Hero Electric urges to end sales of fossil fuel-powered two-wheelers by 2027

Electric-scooter maker Hero Electric has called for the country to put a full stop on the sales of fossil fuel-powered two-wheelers by 2027 in order to accelerate the transition towards clean energy vehicles such as electric vehicles. The country is lagging behind other nations such as China in terms of adoption of alternate energy vehicles, the company's MD Naveen Munjal said in an interview.

He added that India's shift towards electric vehicles has been hampered by high prices and inadequate charging infrastructure. While China accounts for 97% of the world's electric scooter fleet, in India, e-scooters make up just 1% of the total, as per BloombergNEF.

Munjal emphasised on the need to replace fossil-fuel powered two-wheelers with clean energy ones stating that the former accounts for some of the world's most toxic air, adding that combustion engine powered two-wheelers are more polluting than cars. Yet, the fossil-fuel powered two-wheelers comprise 75% of the 296 million vehicles on the country's roads as of 2019.

Munjal said that a stricter mandate for electrification will force local automakers to make the switch towards electric vehicles faster. "Once the goals are in place, companies will start planning backwards in terms of supply chain, re-skilling, infrastructure requirements and financial implications," he added. "The whole ecosystem begins to fall in place once you know what goals are."

Founded in 2007, Hero Electric plans to invest seven billion rupees to expand its capacity five-fold to 500,000 units annually. The electric scooter company is also working on installing charging stations across the country to improve the EV ecosystem. Further, Hero Electric is looking at expanding its international presence by exporting vehicles to Europe and Latin America."With more competition coming in, the market is going to explode and we are going to be there to take advantage of that," Munjal said.

(with inputs from Bloomberg)