Going electric, one fleet at a time

Fuel-efficient and low-carbon cars hold one key to dramatically reducing our reliance on petroleum, but can we make the transition quickly enough? With plug-in vehicles like the Nissan LEAF and the Chevy Volt just now becoming available to consumers, what’s the best way to speed up adoption of these newer, smaller-footprint models?

Countries like the UK, the US and China have offered incentives like “Cash for Clunkers” to encourage drivers to replace their old gas-guzzlers with more efficient cars. But these have tended to be one-time-only and limited-time offers, and often didn’t apply to the motorists who need greener vehicles the most: people without a lot of money who continue to drive aged, inefficient cars and trucks because they can’t afford to replace them … period.

In recent years, in fact, the average age of cars on US roads has been trending nowhere but up, most recently reaching a high of 10.2 years, according to R.L. Polk & Co. So if individual car-owners are hanging onto their jalopies longer than ever, what’s the answer to getting more hybrids and plug-ins on the road as quickly as possible?

Look to big business fleets to lead the way.

FedEx, for example, began adding hybrid vehicles to its fleet way back in the early Noughties. And earlier this year, it began using its first all-electric parcel delivery trucks in the US.

The US Postal Service also began testing three-wheeled electric delivery vehicles this year, and has more than 43,000 alternate fuel-capable vehicles in its fleet of nearly 220,000.

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Batteries still drag 'green vehicle' effort

Combined global sales of hybrid and battery electric vehicles are expected to total 5.2 million units in 2020, about 7.3 percent of the 70.9 million passenger vehicles forecast to be sold worldwide that year, according to a recent report from JD Power and Associates.

Of those 5.2 million vehicles, 3.9 million units are expected to be hybrids, with sales coming mostly in the US (1.7 million units), Europe (977,000) and Japan (875,000), the report said. Fewer than 100,000 are expected to be sold in China in 2020.

Of the 1.3 million battery electric cars sold, Europe and China will account for 742,000 and 332,000 units respectively. About 100,000 will be sold in the US and a similar number in Japan, the report said.

Global sales of hybrids and battery electric vehicles are expected to reach 954,000 units this year, or 2.2 percent of the 44.7 million vehicles projected to be sold through the end of 2010.

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Entrepreneurs taking up initiatives to bring down cost of e-bikes

Given the relative success that Reva Electric Car has achieved and with M&M and Tata Group looking at an lineup of electric vehicles in its portfolio, the scenario in India of entrepreneurs looking to play in this sector is growing. Reva Electric Car has been growing in strength and after M&M taking this company under its fold, it is expected that the costs will come down so will the network of sales and service will expand.

One more of Bangalore’s entrepreneurial set up Eko Vehicles is expected to come under the fold of US-based NEAH Power. And with more and more people expected to buy electric vehicles, the market is expected to move forward. According to industry data, around 200,000 electric two wheelers are being sold with only a handful of players like BSA Motors, Yo Bykes, Ultra Motors being the large national players.

such a scenario, one more player — iBike — from Bangalore has emerged on the scenario in an effort to spread the concept of clean energy. i-Bike started by two entrepreneurs — Sandeep Dama and R Manikantan — has started rolling out its network of dealership for their range of bikes. The company has set up an assembly unit at Jigani with motors, the main component, being imported from China.

“While there has been an overall growth of the E-bike market in the last three years, the market is still very small compared to the petrol 2-wheeler market. We want to go out to the market and establish ourselves stating that we are here for the long run,” said Dama. The e-bike market, besides the established players, has been facing some problems due to some individual players being just importers and not being able to service post the sale, which has left a bitter taste with the consumers. “We want to change this and offer a network of service as we grow,” added Dama.

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