The Ministry of Road, Transport, and Highways has cautioned state governments about higher battery capacity electric vehicles (EV) that are evading checks under the garb of low speed ones.
An advisory to state governments said that many dealer showrooms have mushroomed across the country that have indulged in sale of battery operated two-wheelers in contravention to the provisions under the Central Motor Vehicles Rules (CMVR), 1989. The state governments have been asked to take action against such errant operators.
“These manufacturers and dealers are supplying higher battery capacity models which are plying with top speed 40-50 kilometres per hour (kmph) without type approval, insurance and vehicle identification as per norms. These vehicles are tampering with the verification undertaken by the Testing Agency,” the advisory said.
Under the existing rules, the maximum speed of EVs that can be sold without type approvals must not cross 25 kmph.
The Transport Ministry further specified that a two-wheeled battery operated vehicle shall not be deemed to be a motor vehicle if it is equipped with an electric motor having 30 minute power of less than 0.25 kW.
Unladed weight (excluding battery weight) of these vehicles is not supposed to cross 60 kilogrammes. They also need to be fitted with suitable brakes and retro-reflective devices such as a white reflector in the front and a red one in the rear.
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It envisages installation of EV charging stations at the railway stations in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune and Surat by December 2024.
“Currently, the number of charging stations are too less, of the order of approximately 32 EVs per charging station in India,” according to the report issued by JMK Research. It suggested that drastic steps need to be undertaken for installation of charging stations in India to overcome the chicken and egg problem of the EV sector.