The Government of India has hiked up tax rates for hybrid cars and pledged focus on EVs in a move that has raised a lot of eyebrows.
Mahindra has been reported to be working on an all-new, more powerful hybrid system for its future vehicles. The 48V mild hybrid system is significantly more powerful than the 12V mild hybrid (IntelliHybrid) system that Mahindra uses in some of its cars right now. However, Mahindra has a number of things to consider before it rolls out the new technology to its future cars.
The Government of India had previously offered significant tax benefits for hybrid and mild hybrid powertrains, leading to the rise of the semi-hybrid units like Maruti Suzuki's SHVS and Mahindra's IntelliHybrid. However, the Government has recently been reported to have shifted its entire focus to electric vehicles, and aims to include a sizeable chunk of EVs in operation by 2030. Following this decision, tax benefits for hybrid cars were lifted, and made for a rather strange decision as hybrid vehicles are the best bet for the Indian auto industry to progress right now.
Electric vehicles are a while into the future, for India. There is a need to establish a network of charging stations in the same or more dense frequency as petrol stations, before EVs can truly take off in the country. Mahindra, however, has continued work with electric cars and pledged a new roadmap to evolve its electric vehicles. The company believes that it will gain a head start over potential competition with electric vehicles made in India and battery development parallely.
While the days are still too early, Mahindra and Ola have partnered to launch a pilot EV cab project in Nagpur. Hybrid vehicles, meanwhile, remain in question, and Mahindra hopes there will be some revision of the tax norms so that it can put its latest hybrid technology in operation.
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Souvik Das
The one that switches between BMWs and Harbour Line Second Class. View Full Profile
