On the occasion of this year’s World EV day, a Delhi-based company has claimed something very few will try and digest. BluSmart, which is a ride-hailing service provider with only pure-electric cars in its fleet, says that India is ready for electric vehicles. Now, it isn’t just saying that to gain some undeserved popularity. The company does have a portfolio to stand behind that claim with some factual data.
Starting with what BluSmart has achieved today – it enabled a non-modified Mahindra eVerito to reach Mumbai from Delhi. For those who don’t know much about that EV, here are a few highlights. Photographs suggest that it was a D6 variant, which means a maximum range of 140km on a single charge. That comes courtesy of an 18.55 kWh battery pack, which powers a single electric motor with 42bhp/91Nm on tap.
Onward with some more numbers. The EV in question started the journey on September 4, 2020, and covered 1,564km before reaching the destination today. BluSmart claims that the car saved 105kg of CO2 emissions. The trip included five stints of fast charging and six sessions of slow charging. As per Mahindra, the eVerito can replenish its battery pack from zero to 100 per cent in approximately 11 hours and 30 minutes via a slow charging feed. However, the wait time from zero to 80 per cent drops down to about 1 hour and 30 minutes when there’s a recommended fast charger in the equation.
Representational image
The journey from Delhi to Mumbai was more than six-times the last zero-emissions intercity trip BluSmart completed. In January 2019, an EV travelled from Delhi to Jaipur covering a distance of about 260km. The company, which currently operates only in Delhi-NCR has completed over 200,000 trips, covering more than 5 million kilometres.
So, with all those facts and figures under its belt, is BluSmart qualified to claim India is ready for EVs? Let’s discuss it in the comments section.
What's your reaction?
how you got this vehicle charge after every 150 km on a highway?
Did you get fast charging points easily
Not sure how they did it. But, it did get fast charging five times during the trip. That means the stopovers were pre-calculated. As for slow charging, you can get it through a standard plug.
Just one run cannot qualify to call India ready.. It will be so only when charging points esp DC fast chargers are available at convenient locations in many segments of the NH.
Absolutely! Perhaps the EV isn’t ready for inter-city commutes. However, I believe it is ready as a city runabout. Not everywhere, no. But definitely in metros such as Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Bengaluru. Only once the carmakers see the demand growth will they invest more to make EVs more affordable and, at the same time, push the government to make national highways more supportive of EVs.
Yes. Intra city rides are ideal and for long distance ccommute fast chargers at rest and recoup locations needed.
Absolutely. One step at a time.