The Indian Army is one of the largest buyers of vehicles in India. They have been procuring four-wheelers (LCVs), motorcycles, buses and other commercial vehicles from Indian manufacturers. According to a media report, the armed forces are looking at electrifying their fleet of vehicles in a phased manner.
This procurement of electric vehicles is planned keeping in mind the Government of India’s policy of reducing carbon emissions as well as the dependency on imported oil. It is said that the Army will look at replacing 25 per cent of light motor vehicles, 38 per cent of buses and 48 per cent of motorcycles with electric vehicles. This will happen in a phased manner and in select units across the country.
The Army is deployed in both border and non-border areas with varying climatic and geographical conditions. These can be the Himalayas mountains, the deserts of Rajasthan or the jungles of North East. Hence, to enable electrification, the first a roadmap has been developed keeping in mind the requirement of these vehicles, remote locations and operational capabilities. EV charging stations would also be installed to support these vehicles. Each charging station will have a minimum of one fast charger and 2-3 slow chargers. Solar energy could also be tapped where possible by installing solar-based charging stations. Further, electric vehicles have fewer moving parts leading to lesser maintenance as compared with their internal combustion engine (ICE) counterparts.
The Army is also expected to soon release a tender for the procurement of 60 electric buses and 24 fast chargers. These buses are expected to fulfil the existing shortage of buses. Earlier this year, in April, the Army had organised a showcase of electric vehicles where manufacturers like Tata Motors and Revolt displayed their models and interacted with Defense Minister Rajnath Singh about the developments in the EV technology.
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