Commercial vehicle maker Daimler AG has completed five years in India with the Bharat Benz brand and expanded its portfolio with the country's first ever Euro V compliant truck. On the sidelines of the launch, the manufacturer, while interacting with the media, said that it is also exploring the option of introducing electric trucks in the country. Having launched the Fuso e Canter electric truck in New York last week ahead of Tesla's upcoming electric semi-truck, the German auto giant said that it has the technology, products and understanding of producing electric commercial vehicles and is ready to bring the same to India.
Speaking to the media, Head of Daimler Trucks Asia, Marc Llistosella said that the firm is ready to bring electric trucks to India, provided it gets the infrastructure support, local partnership and cooperation from the local civic bodies. The company harped on the fact that while the technology was present with it Internationally, India was yet to provide the right infrastructure to support electric vehicles. The statement only adds to the uncertainty of the country reaching the government's plan of becoming an all-electric nation by 2030.
Also Read: India Aims To Have An All-Electric Fleet By 2030
Bharat Benz e Canter electric truck
Llistosella further said, "The government needs to show real cases of electric infrastructure for vehicles. Not prototypes, but real cases which work." That said, the company did not provide a timeline for the launch of its electric commercial vehicles in India.
The Indian government has been pushing the electric vehicle programme rampantly and aims to make the country all-electric by 2030. However, without the needed infrastructure to support electric vehicles, the aim seems far-fetched.
Daimler further said that if it gets the opportunity to bring electric trucks to India, the company will first run the same in metropolitan cities. The manufacturer could bring medium-duty electric trucks first in the country and do the pilot run in cities like Mumbai that provide the upscale infrastructure for an electric vehicle.
Daimler AG completed five years in India with the Bharat Benz brand
The automaker already has a programme for electric trucks internationally and is working with local companies across different metropolitan cities like New York and London to find the right charging facility for e-trucks. Daimler also spoke about working on superchargers for electric trucks that will recharge the EV in just five minutes. The technology though is still in developing stage.
When asked about hybrids, Bharat Benz Managing Director, Eric Nesselhauf said that it did not see hybrid trucks as a long-term solution for the Indian market. Same is the case with bio-diesel technology that carries a lot of investment but yields lesser results, as per the company.
Completing five years with the Bharat Benz brand, Daimler AG wanted to offer a more environmentally friendly alternative to customers. Hence the Euro V compliant medium-duty truck was launched in the country, just months after the company upgraded its entire fleet to BS-IV emission norms.
Speaking on the move, Nesselhauf said, "We don't want to wait till 2020 to provide BS-VI emission norms on our vehicles." Bharat Benz says that it has the technology to upgrade to BS-VI and already exports models from its Chennai plant to international markets. The company said it will make the transition to BS-VI technology at the right time.
