All two-wheelers sold in India should be electric by 2025: Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal
By 2025, all motorcycles sold in the country must be electric vehicles, said Bhawish Agarwal, automotive giant, founder, and CEO of electric vehicle manufacturer Oil. Speaking to The Economic Times, Agarwal said the government has completed a local automotive manufacturing ecosystem and is investing in the business to make India a global electric vehicle manufacturer. Ola stated that they have started launching e-scooters on July 15 and received more than 100,000 orders in the first 24 hours. Buyers can pre book Ola scooters for just Rs 499 by going on the official website of Ola.
Bhavish Agarwal said that he is well aware that the manufacturing industry will recover and is confident that the EV industry can quickly overcome it. He also said that he is confident that they can deliver the service in a few months to secure a spot. Once it's there, whatever the situation, whether it's an electronic chip situation or something similar, Ola will take care of it. Therefore, a very large plant has to be grown. Ola is planning to build an electric vehicle center in its area. Many suppliers open stores in the area as they build large subsidiaries and supplier parks. Overall, Tamil Nadu has a thriving industry and a good talent ecosystem, so Ola decided to explore the area. It is also close to Bangalore headquarters. There are many interconnected states and as we all know that Tamil Nadu has the best talent ecosystem, but looking to the future to start other businesses ola will consider other states as well.
Image credit: The Economic Times
Obviously, cell formation is a problem that needs to be addressed. This is the most important part of the vehicle and ola wants to re-establish its partnership and create this ecosystem in India. The government has proposed a promising PLI program for home batteries. Ola is exploring all options and will continue to be one of the biggest consumers, so they will definitely do something to accelerate domestic battery production.
Being asked about the semiconductor shortage in India, Bhavesh said that Ola is not a semiconductor company, ola doesn't make them, but the company looks forward to working with its partners to create a local ecosystem. Semiconductors (manufacturing) is a complex manufacturing ecosystem, but Indian companies want to build one and when this happens Bhavesh said they will definitely become partners. Ola is also planning to introduce E-vehicles other than two-wheelers also but we all are waiting for official confirmation from the company.
CEO, Bhavesh opposes the import duty reduction on the e-vehicles and asks companies to manufacture at the domestic level. As per Bhavesh, as a country, the biggest way to accelerate the journey to EVs is to build a technology and manufacturing ecosystem for EVs in India. A global manufacturer who imports 5, 20, or 100 vehicles to India every year and sells them to the outside world is useless. Many people expressed this opinion (instead of Elon Musk urging the Indian government to cut import tariffs on electric vehicles from 60-100% to 40%), Ola obviously doesn't want to compete with Tesla.
Image credit:Money Control
India already has the right market, the right talent, and a good automotive manufacturing ecosystem. Now India has to look at the industry, petrol emissions and working with electricity. In addition to OEMs, the industry needs to invest in the parts needed for electric vehicles. The government has provided the industry with an excellent platform. The industry now has a responsibility to invest in creating the right technology in this area.
Bhavesh said "It's not about us or our current players, it's about technology. The technology (for electric vehicles) is there, it's real and better than anyone else. If you need funding, you need to invest more. Technology is the only fundamental truth in life, and it can only go in one direction. I think everyone made a lot of money from their previous investments (investments in their combustion engines). It is time to change the future of this industry and our leadership in the global automotive industry."
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