The Indian government is planning on introducing new mandatory standards for EV battery packs, components and their testing. As per sources, the government will notify the standards and testing protocols simultaneously for electric two-wheeler as well as electric four-wheelers. Additionally, the government will also make it mandatory for automobile manufacturers to sell EVs with only standard-compliant batteries.
According to sources, the new mandatory standards will come into force in the next 2-3 months. As we mentioned, the government will first notify EV manufacturers about these norms. Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari also said that the provision for penalties against companies will kick in after the new government notifies them of the new standards. This will be in the case a company fails to comply with the new standards and regulatory norms.
According to officials, the government will notify the norms for “conformity of production (CoP)” of batteries. Under this new framework, authorities will collect random samples of finished batteries from factories. Then they will test it to find if companies are complying with the standards. As of now, there is no provision for such a CoP for electric vehicles.
With the increasing demand for electric two- and four-wheelers, new products are coming to the market almost every day. In addition to this, Mumbai’s famous double-decker bus will also return as an EV. Switch, the electric bus and light-commercial vehicle company, recently announced the EiV22 electric double-decker bus.
At the same time, Tata Motors also recently announced it had won an order for a total of 921 electric buses from Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC). Under this, Tata will supply, operate as well as maintain 12-metre electric buses for a total of 12 years.
Also Read: Switch EiV 22 electric double-decker bus revealed