Energy Efficiency Service Ltd (EESL) of the Power Ministry is exploring the option of procuring throug its tenders electric cars capable of running 200 km on a single charge, said Deepak Kokate, Regional Manager of EESL.
Interacting with BusinessLine on the sidelines of an event for handing over electric cars to the Maharashtra government Kokate said in the first tender floated by EESL, the specification was 120 km on a single charge. But with the advancement in battery technology, cars running 200 km could also be explored. Such cars will be ideal for inter-city travel. Today, EESL has not identified the manufacturers of such cars but in the new tender a higher technical specification could be added, which will add to the competition. EESL being a government company the idea is to make the technical specifications more stringent but also to ensure that the prices of such cars drop day-by-day and its usage increase, he said. EESL is a joint venture of four national public sector enterprises. It functions as an energy service company.
He said that under the first tender, 10,000 electric cars have been bought by EESL out of which 1,000 would be leased to the State government and its entities by this year-end. The running cost of a conventional car works to about ₹12-14 per km, while for an electric car it is just ₹ 3-4.
EESL handed over six electric cars to the Maharashtra Public Works Department. Two charging stations have been installed in the Secretariat.