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Ola Wants a Million Electric Rides on India's Roads by 2021 (bloomberg.com)

Ride-hailing company Ola, Uber's fiercest Indian competitor, wants to roll out 10,000 electric three-wheeled rickshaws within a year and a million battery-powered vehicles by 2021. From a report: The startup run by ANI Technologies said it's in policy discussions with several state governments, and is talking with potential partners from automakers to battery producers. It aims to build out an existing pilot project in the central Indian city of Nagpur, where Ola's first EVs have already traveled more than 4 million kilometers. Ola's ambitions dovetail with the Indian government's objectives. Prime Minster Narendra Modi plans to significantly increase the number of new energy vehicles on the road. The power ministry in March said Modi had directed senior ministers to ensure that by 2030 most vehicles in India would be powered by electricity.

2 of 28 comments (clear)

  1. Have some actual information Ola not doing well by Crashmarik · · Score: 3, Informative

    https://in.reuters.com/article...

    Insight: Ola's sputtering India electric vehicle trial a red flag for Modi plan

    Clean energy stories on Slashdot aren't dog whistles, they're electrodes planted in the pleasure centers of the gullible.

    1. Re:Have some actual information Ola not doing well by blindseer · · Score: 3

      From the article linked in parent:

      Getting infrastructure built in the world's biggest democracy where a not-in-my-backyard culture proliferates is a barrier for a lot of businesses in India. And it is proving to be the same for charging stations - Ola was forced to close one in Nagpur last year after protests by residents angered by traffic jams caused by drivers. It took more than five months to get government clearances to begin operating another station.

      Seems they want to blame this on democracy. Well, what's the solution then? Remove just "a little bit" of democracy? I have a problem with that. It's never "a little bit".

      Maybe what they need is a government that can properly plan the roads and other infrastructure so the people won't complain. This is not something that can be forced by government. People have to want the electric cars. Paying people to take them, when there isn't sufficient infrastructure to support them, is going to create a distaste for them in the future. Traffic jams around charging stations is a symptom of a problem, not the problem itself. Had they allowed this to develop more naturally with market forces then this would not have happened. What they have now is perhaps an entire generation with a bad experience with electric vehicles, because they forced them on the market too soon.

      The electric car industry may have just shot itself in the foot, and it may take decades before people lose the memory of this experience.

      Good job! You may have just stalled the electric car industry in India by 20 years!

      --
      I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.