We also appreciate the urgent need of EV ecosystem development in the country for EVs to make a real difference in our lives. And with this in mind, we ensure our active participation in all discussions on ecosystem development with all relevant stakeholders. It is heartening to see that the governments at the center as well as state level are also coming forward to develop pro-EV policies. We support these policies in the best way we can by working on developing technology based ecosystem solutions, for example the e2oPlus app, through which a customer can remotely control the charging of his/her car. Charging Infrastructure, is another very important piece of the jigsaw puzzle for EVs and is something we actively collaborate for with interested parties.
How good is the revised FAME scheme for encouraging manufacturers to take up EVs? What more is required from the Government in terms of policy reforms?
We are grateful to the government for introducing the FAME program in 2015 and giving the much needed support to bridge the current viability gap in terms of capital investments required for EVs and conventional vehicles. The program has been now extended to March 2017 and we are very happy about same.
Globally, similar incentive programs have been in place, even in countries where EV sales have been high. We believe this support is very encouraging for manufacturers and EV adopters and incentivizing EVs in India for at least 2-3 years more will prove to be very beneficial. We believe within this time period, technology development and economies of scale will make EVs at par with conventional vehicles, specifically in terms of cost.
Tell us about Mahindra Electric's overall product portfolio as of now and the NPD pipeline for passenger vehicles.
Today we have a portfolio of four vehicles across different segments, launched with the idea of making it easy for everyone to adopt electric mobility. We have the e2oPlus, a four-door hatchback, perfect for the CitySmart commuter of today's Indian urban cities. We also have the eVerito, an all-electric sedan which is currently getting a lot of interest from the fleet segment for executive movement. In the commercial segment we have the eSupro Cargo, aimed at solving last mile delivery in our cities and the eSupro passenger which caters to last mile transportation.
Recently, we also announced the roadmap to our future: EV 2.0. This is going to be the next phase of electric mobility in India. It is based on three broad pillars that we would be working on, and these will guide the way to the exponential growth in EV adoption. These three pillars are: Technology, New Products and Mobility Solutions.
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