Soon, EVs can speed on national highways and charge on the way: Gadkari

On Friday, the union minister Nitin Gadkari said that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is building charging infrastructure along the highways for electric vehicles. The road transport minister, while addressing a virtual event said that the automotive industry is going through a challenging time due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and he was happy that it is now in a recovery mode. He further added that the charging infrastructure has been developed along the highways.

India’s auto sector contributes 7.1% to the overall Indian’s GDP and 49% of it to the manufacturing GDP, with an annual turnover of Rs 7.5 lakh crore and export of Rs 3.5 lakh crore, Gadkari higlighted.

According to a report, Gadkari noted that electric two-wheeler sales in the country was at 13,345 units for July 2021, witnessing a massive 229% MoM rise and YoY jump in registrations of 836%.

New startups have witnessed a massive response in the domestic market for electric scooters, according to Gadkari.

He also emphasised that developing long-life, low-cost, high-efficiency batteries needs research which is the need of the hour.

Hydrogen fuel for the future

Gadkari said the national hydrogen mission launched by the prime minister seeks to develop hydrogen technologies for the benefit of the mobility sector and make India the leader in production and usage of green-hydrogen.

Further the National hydrogen mission launched by the prime minister seeks to develop hydrogen technologies for the benefit of the mobility sector and make India the leader in production and usage of green-hydrogen, the minister said. Also, 70% of green hydrogen costs comes from electricity costs, Gadkari said.

He also added that the fuel for the future is hydrogen and it is the only fuel which can help achieve the mission of zero carbon emissions.