Renault India Operations Country CEO and MD Mr Venkatram Mamillapalle has said that Renault was very much interested in launching electric vehicles in India. However, he urged the government to first get the EV ecosystem (charging infrastructure) in place before it starts forcing companies to launch EVs. He said, “having the cars in the garages makes no sense”. We agree to this line of thought as changing over from hydrocarbon fuel to electric involves a fundamental shift in driving habits and refuelling (charging) processes and times. It is extremely important to have the infrastructure in place before unleashing the EVs on road else it will once more lead to chaos on roads. We need to also consider whether the electricity grid in the country is ready to support the excess energy that it will have to conduct when a large number of EVs are in place. What will happen to the base and surge loads as everyone plugs in the evening to get ready for the next day? The high-speed chargers draw a large amount of current and may need higher voltage systems. Is the infrastructure ready to handle it? Because only installing charging points is not the solution. Mr Mamillapalle stated that Renault may look at introducing EVs by 2022.

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