The electric vehicles industry in India must make it its foremost duty to take care of quality as any shortcomings will be a disaster for the industry, V. Sumantran, non-executive director of Switch Mobility Ltd., said.
Speaking at the EV summit organised by the CII, Mr. Sumantran said fires were now being seen in EVs across brands and product segments. “We are working with new technology, systems and supply chains. It [fires] is not a surprise. If we don’t get on to this immediately, we will have hell to pay for. As an industry, each one of us must embrace this challenge,” he said.
Mr. Sumantran said if everyone in the industry failed to be quality conscious, it would derail the trajectory for EVs in India.
Hans Raj Varma, Chairman and Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Industrial Investment Corporation Ltd., said Tamil Nadu, as the “Detroit of India”, with its automotive ecosystem and talent pool, had a head start over the rest of the States with regard to EV manufacturing.
“We have a new emerging cluster — Hosur, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri — where we have Ather, Simple Energy, Ola, Ashok Leyland. This journey of EVs will be powered by Tamil Nadu,” he said.
Mr. Varma called upon companies in the EV space to partner with TIIC that will add tremendous value to their investment proposition.
Rajesh Kumar Pathak, president, TNTDPC Governing Board and Secretary, Technology Development Board, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, said four-wheeler electric vehicles were unable to capture the consumer psyche and the industry as a whole due to range anxiety and this had to be addressed.
