Maruti Suzuki is betting big on EVs and is already ready with its prototype for testing.
Maruti Suzuki has just unveiled its Electric Vehicle prototype at the MOVE Global Mobility Summit. The Indo-Japanese automaker had already confirmed plans of launching its first EV in the country in 2020 and has invested in a lithium-ion battery plant (with Toshiba and Denso).
That’s not all, it has collaborated with Toyota and both manufacturers will be sharing EV technology. Yes, there is a hybrid version of the Baleno and Vitara Brezza planned which will be badge engineered by Toyota.
Maruti Suzuki will commence testing of its EV from next month with 50 prototypes running on Indian roads. The electric cars will be manufactured at Suzuki’s Gujarat plant. However, Maruti Suzuki believes only 30% cars will be electric by 2030 (Indian government aims to have 15% EVs on the road by 2023 and had early proposed 100% EVs by 2030), the year by which India’s largest car maker wants to achieve 5 million unit sales a year in the country.
The success of EVs largely depends on the charging infrastructure for which Maruti has solicited support from the Indian government. The Maruti Suzuki EV prototype is based on the Wagon R and Stingray models with the production model likely to retain the tall boy design as that liberates more space for the batteries.
The battery pack is likely to be placed in the lower half of the boot. The prototype was manufactured at Maruti’s Gurgaon plant. The testing of this prototype will give Maruti crucial feedback about the battery such as range, temperature and of course longevity. The prototypes will be sent to suppliers as well so they can test their parts on this electric vehicle.
Meanwhile, Hyundai too is betting big on EVs and will launch the Kona Electric next year. Nissan too is betting heavily on EVs and plans to enter the mass-market EV space for which they are studying the market. The GT-R maker plans to launch the Leaf in India soon but it won’t be priced attractively due to it being manufactured in Japan.
Meanwhile, Nissan’s alliance partner is already developing an electric version of the Kwid for the Chinese market, that too could make it to our shores.
Maruti Suzuki EV
– Prototype testing of Maruti EVs starts next month
– Maruti EV based on the Wagon R
– Launch of the first Maruti EV scheduled for 2020
– Maruti is working with Toyota in the development of EVs
