For the Electric Vehicle (EV) manufacturers in Tamil Nadu, lack of recognition for smaller vehicles such as three-wheeler rickshaws and in-house carts to operate on road is hampering development of the EV eco system.

“A cart that can seat six to 20 people, does not have doors, and runs at maximum 40 km speed is permitted to operate on road in countries such as the United States. However, in India, there is no permission for such vehicles to be operated on road. These vehicles do not get road safety certificate and hence are not eligible for loans or insurance too,” said an EV in-house cart manufacturer.

These carts are low speed, passenger vehicles and can be used as share autos too. These small electric vehicles have the potential to cater to last mile connectivity. But, they need to get the approval for registration and be eligible for bank loans and insurance.

Director of Eco Dynaamic Group Vijayan Srinivasan said Uttar Pradesh has over 100 MSME suppliers of e-rickshaws. However, these vehicles cannot be registered in Tamil Nadu. E-carts and E-rickshaws can have multiple applications, such as garbage collection, transport in remote areas, and so on. When a vehicle model does not get approvals, the MSME eco system for EVs struggles to develop. There is a requirement of components, innovation, and new vehicle development. But, lack of recognition, approvals, and on road operation permissions result in poor flow of funds for the growth of use of such vehicles. This hampers the entire eco system. There are several manufacturers in Coimbatore who struggle to grow in the EV space because of this issue, he added.

The Centre and the State should be proactive in encouraging new vehicle models and the users, vehicle developers, and manufacturers should have access to funds so that the EV small vehicle segment can grow, say industry stakeholders in Coimbatore.