Dinesh Mohan believes the RE60 is a good bet for India’s roads. The Volvo Chair Professor Emeritus at IIT Delhi is acknowledged as one of the country’s top experts on transport solutions.

In his view, for something that replaced the horse carriage over a century ago, the automobile is the “most inefficient piece of technology” ever invented.

“It is grossly underused, perhaps two hours every day, and is designed for five people when it ends up carrying only one most of the time,” he says. And this is not an India-specific trait but applicable to the rest of the world.

The need of the hour, Mohan says, is vehicles like the RE60 which will help solve the problem of pollution and parking space, compared to the average SUV. “I am completely behind Rajiv Bajaj for at least trying to innovate. We don’t encourage innovation in this country,” he adds.

According to Mohan, there is evidence to suggest that vehicles whose speeds are limited by design have lower accident rates. This is in sharp contrast to more powerful cars and bikes which clock bigger numbers.

Interestingly, says Mohan, three-wheeler (autorickshaw) accidents in India are lower than what one would expect. He believes this is perhaps a result of the driver being a lot more circumspect when his vehicle cannot travel very fast. To that extent, he is confident that the RE60’s speed limit is good news on this department. Mohan says the Bajaj Auto product, by virtue of its light weight, will also ensure less wear and tear on our roads.

Yet, he reiterates that there should be strict safety standards for the RE60. “We need expert biomechanics who understand the crashworthiness of vehicles. My suspicion is that there are not enough in India which means we need to call global experts,” he says.

In the process, this could result in some extra time spent on formulating the quadricycle policy except that it will be worth the wait. The impact standard should ideally be set at an impact velocity lower than that of the standard car, which is in the range of 50-55 kmph.

Mohan reiterates that the time has come to set strict speed limits for driving in India given the growing number of road fatalities. It is his view that autorickshaws actually play a constructive role here in slowing down traffic (and perhaps road deaths) though it is likely that not everyone will agree with this view!

Mohan does not think the RE60 will make an impact in the personal buying space but will double up ideally as a taxi. He also sees a number of other uses, such as a delivery van, which will increase its appeal as a vehicle used within a town or city.

Related Topics