Electric, eco-friendly vehicles yet to get popular in Maharashtra; 1,748 registered in 21 months
Data on electric vehicles registered in the state available for first time; only 18 vehicles registered in Mumbai from April to Dec 2017
Data on electric vehicles registered in Maharashtra, available for the first time ever, shows that not many people in the state have been investing in eco-friendly, battery-operated vehicles, with only 1,748 of them being registered between April 2016 and December 2017
Figures sourced from the state transport department show that 976 vehicles were registered from April 2016 to March 2017, while 772 were registered from April to December 2017.
Maharashtra had around three crore registered vehicles as per the transport department, and annually, an average of 23 lakh fossil fuel-run, non-eco-friendly vehicles are added to this number.
Initially, the highest number of electric vehicles to hit the state roads were two-wheelers, but in the current financial year, it has been electric auto-rickshaws. While 860 two-wheelers were registered from April 2016 to March 2017, only 233 of them have been registered in the current financial year. From April 2017 to date, 323 e-rickshaws were registered, an interesting figure as not a single e-auto was registered in 2016-17.
A senior RTO official, who did not wish to be named, said the e-autos have been registered mainly in Vidharbha region, and have replaced cycle-rickshaws.
A mere 198 electric cars were registered in this 21-month period, including one high-end Tesla car estimated to have cost Rs 2 crore and bought by a senior executive in south Mumbai.
Data shows that there are 67 e-taxis running on state roads currently. These were bought by a private app-based taxi aggregator in Nagpur in 2017, RTO officials said.
There are 13 electric buses, four of which are owned by the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking, which is now expected to induct more e-buses in its fleet soon.
Interestingly, five electric vehicles were registered in the goods carrier category and two electric agriculture tractors have been bought. A total of 18 electric vehicles were registered in Mumbai from April to December 2017, of which 11 were registered at the Tardeo RTO.
Renowned renewable energy expert Dr Omprakash Kulkarni said people are currently buying electric vehicles on an experimental basis. “There is no acceptance of the technology by common man as yet. It will happen once the technology gets established,” Kurlkarni said.
The central government has set an ambitious target of seeing only electric vehicles on Indian roads by the year 2030.
Unlike fossil fuel-run vehicles, electric vehicles are exempted from motor vehicle tax, which is 11-13% for petrol and 13-15% for diesel vehicles.
Source: hindustantimes
