India should move to ethanol or hydrogen cars instead of electric cars: Maruti Chairman
hybrid cars because in the country, 75 per cent of the electricity is made from coal, according to R.C. Bhargava, the Chairman of Maruti Suzuki Ltd.
He made the remarks while addressing the 50th National Management Convention organised by All India Management Association (AIMA).
Bhargava said that the electric cars will not be clean until India gets at least 50 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources.
Until then, the hybrid cars will be cleaner, he said, adding that even shifting to CNG cars is a better option, as CNG is a cleaner fuel than petrol.
«May be India should move to ethanol, hydrogen and fuel cell options instead of going for electric cars,» he said.
Talking about coming slightly late to the electric car market, Bhargava said that Maruti had built an electric version of the Wagon R but its cost was too high, and now Maruti would come to the market with larger electric models which could be more viable.
However, he said that even with six electric models, the share of electric cars in Maruti's sales would be only 15 per cent to 20 per cent.
He pointed out that today, the share of electric cars in Indian car market is only 2 per cent.
On Maruti's decision to stop diesel car production, Bhargava said that while the government is not preventing anyone from making diesel cars, the compliance with CAFE standards will make their costs exorbitant.
On the subject of the shift of the mass market from small hatchbacks to SUVs, Bhargava said that though the whole market is not shifting, the small car market is not growing anymore.
