1. Panjab University’s new green campus policy.
Panjab University (PU), situated in Chandigarh, has framed a new green campus policy which involves development of green belts in the university campus and adoption of eco-friendly transportation for students, faculty members and other staff working at the university. Special emphasis has been given to installation of EV charging stations at the campus.
2. Fully electrified highway between Delhi & Mumbai.
Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari stated that the government wants to build an Electric Highway from Delhi to Mumbai, on a 1300 km road. He said, “Our planning is to make an e-highway from Delhi to Mumbai. Just like a trolleybus, you can run trolley trucks also.”
An electric highway generally refers to a lane on a highway which supplies power to vehicles travelling, through overhead power lines.
A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws power from overhead power lines. A rough example is the trams of Kolkata.
This version of the e-Highway is already being tested in Germany. There will be a dedicated lane on the highway which will have high-tension electric cables running through the length of the road.
The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, currently under construction, is expected to include a separate lane for the electric highway for electric trucks and buses.
3. First hotel in the northeast to install an EV charging station.
Novotel Guwahati (Assam) has become the first hotel in North East India to have an EV charging station. The EV charger will be open for all guests and visitors to charge their electric vehicles. The hotel has tied up with Chargingride Technologies for this initiative. Users can charge their EVs with the help of Chargingride's EVBooth App.
The hotel has also pledged to get rid of single-use plastic.
4. MG Motors to bring its 2nd electric car to India next year.
MG Motors India is gearing up to introduce its compact mass-market EV in the market. The 2-door MG Air EV was recently spotted in Gujarat for testing and is expected to debut at the 2023 Auto Expo in January. It is expected to launch mid-2023.
The MG Air EV is likely to come with two battery options: 30kW & 50kW. MG is expected to locally source battery packs from Tata AutoComp.
In past years, Mahindra has tried to capture this segment with the e2o (previously known as Reva), but without success, mostly due to the lack of charging infrastructure at the time. As the number of charging points is increasing, it will be interesting to see how this car performs in the Indian market.
The cabin is strictly for four occupants, the rear seats have been pushed backwards to create more legroom but this leaves almost no luggage space. MG has an electric presence in India courtesy the MG ZS EV, which has got a good response from customers. The new Air EV is likely to be aggressively priced at around Rs.12 lakh. Unlike the Tata EVs, MG will position this offering as a pure city car for a family of 4.
5. Ola Electric presents advanced battery cell for EVs.
Ola Electric unveiled its first indigenously developed lithium-ion (Li-ion) cell ‘NMC 2170’. Built in-house, Ola will begin the mass production of this cell at its upcoming Gigafactory by 2023.
This cell uses Nickel-Manganese-Cobalt (NMC) on the cathode side and graphite & silicon on the anode side.
The cell has been developed keeping the indigenous conditions (local Indian conditions) at the core.
Ola Electric invested in an Israeli battery technology company ‘StoreDot’, a technological pioneer in batteries with patented extreme fast charging (XFC) technology. As per the pact, Ola Electric has access to StoreDot's XFC battery technology that charges a battery from 0 to 100% in just 5 minutes!
For complete EV charging solutions, explore the Kazam website.
