Scooters India Limited (SIL) plans to start production of electric cars. The company is planning to introduce another wing, to manufacture cars for niche markets.
A Sahay, chairman-cum-managing director of the company, said the company's plans would not be affected by the disinvestment process. "We are looking for a partner who can bring in technology," he said.
"Cars is a new market we are looking at. However, we will only focus on niche segments, like in animal sanctuaries etc where there is a demand for non polluting electric cars," he added.
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The company is changing its focus to product development and marketing.
Manufacturing is incidental to the entire process, he said. The move into the four wheeler electric vehicle market would be a logical extension for the company, which has already developed an electric three wheeler.
Besides its Vikram 410(PG), a low emission vehicle which runs on CNG, the company has also developed 450D, another three wheeler with an electric engine which fulfils all emission requirements and is fully indigenously developed.
SIL is also considering the possibility of entering into a strategic alliance with Farnow Technology, an Australian research and development company, which has developed an improved version of the electric battery used in the vehicle.
While Sahay refused to divulge details of the modalities of the deal, he said the company expects to finalise the agreement fairly soon. It could be a joint venture. Also, Farnow is looking at the possibility of setting up of rental energy outlets all over the country, he added.
These would be initially set up as model outlets and then the company could consider franchising outlets all over the country, he said, while speaking at the sidelines of the Industrial Show-2000 "Heavy meets the Small" organised here.
The electric vehicle, developed by SIL, costs Rs 0.70 per km with a one tonne load. The comparable cost in a diesel vehicle is Rs 1.10 per km. Also, the noise and air pollution is considerable reduced with the new vehicle.
While the electric three wheeler developed by SIL uses a lead acid battery which needs to be recharged every 100 km, the new one which the company plans to introduce will have to be recharged for every 300 km.
Also, the battery developed by Farnow (a redox gell battery), has a life of eight years, as opposed to the current three year life span of the lead acid battery.
The vehicle costs around Rs 1.85 lakh per vehicle without the battery. The battery however costs Rs 60,000 and this is a disincentive. The battery is expensive because of a 68 per cent import duty on the vehicle.
However, with domestic manufacturers also showing interest in developing the new battery, the cost is expected to reduce, Sahay said.
Also, minister of state for heavy industries and public enterprises, Vallabhai Kathiria, said the auto policy, which is expected to be announced shortly, will ensure that the interests of the domestic auto industry will be taken care of.