Remember EESL (Energy Efficiency Services Limited) procured 10,000 EVs (Electric Vehicles) a couple of years ago? The idea was to replace the conventionally-powered vehicles government officials used with ones which produce no local emissions whatsoever. Unfortunately, the EVs EESL received didn’t get any kind of appreciation, primarily because their performance was barely bearable. Because of that EESL had to bin the second tender it prepared to purchase an additional 10,000 EVs with similar specifications.

Then, late last year the state-run organisation procured ten units of the Hyundai Kona Electric – an EV that offers an ARAI-certified range of 452km and has good pulling power as well. With it, EESL wanted to test waters with a vehicle which costs twice as much but offers significantly better performance overall. Now, though, through an international competitive bidding process, Hyundai has bagged an order for 100 Kona Electric SUVs from EESL. Because it is a bulk booking, EESL also gets an 11 per cent discount. Hyundai will charge Rs 21.36 lakh for each one. The actual price listed is Rs 23.76 lakh.

That’s not all because, through the same process, EESL has ordered an additional 150 EVs. Which ones? Tata’s Nexon EV. The subcompact SUV, which offers a range of up to 312km (again, ARAI-certified), costs Rs 14.99 lakh in the XZ+ trim. EESL, however, will get a discount of Rs 13,000 on each one, meaning the per-unit cost would be Rs 14.86 lakh.

EESL says that senior officials from State and Central Governments will travel in these newly-ordered EVs. The company, which comes under the administrative control of Ministry of Power, Government of India, has already received an order for 300 long-range EVs from The Agency for Non-Conventional Energy and Rural Technology (ANERT), which is in Kerala. That’s where the first lot of EVs will go.

This development means EESL will roll out additional tenders to procure more pure-electric vehicles soon. As things stand, there’s just one more EV in India that offers performance somewhere between the two mentioned above – the MG ZS EV. However, with the ongoing tensions between India and China (MG being a Chinese-owned British brand), the government-run bodies will have reservations for procuring it.