Here’s What Delhi’s Electric Vehicle Policy Has In Store For Two-wheelers

Given the tragic condition of the air in the capital, the Delhi government has passed a new electric vehicle policy which will help in easy adoption of electric vehicles in the near future. The government plans to induct several electric vehicles into its fleet of leased vehicles while providing great incentives for buyers who are looking for personal mobility solutions.

To begin with, the government is looking to set up close to 250 public charging as well as battery swapping stations across the national capital. These will be important as the government plans to register at least 25 per cent of electric vehicles by 2024. A heavy emphasis is given to two-wheelers and commercial vehicles as these will help in reducing the air pollution levels to a certain extent.

There will be no road tax or registration charges for electric vehicles in Delhi for the next three years. While this will ease the burden of becoming an early adopter, the government will also offer an additional subsidy of Rs 5,500 per kWh of battery capacity to sweeten the deal.

To just give you an idea, the Revolt RV400 has a battery capacity of 3.24kWh. Hence, you can avail of a subsidy of almost Rs 18,000 upon purchase of the bike. That comes to Rs 81,179 with just the insurance cost and the one-time 4G connectivity charge left to be added.

Delhi government will also allow electric two-wheelers to operate as taxis while major last-mile service providers (basically food delivery and e-commerce logistics partners) have been asked to have 50 per cent electric vehicles in its fleet by March 2023 and go fully electric by 2025.

Another key point that will help buyers is the Delhi government will also offer Rs 6,000 off on purchase of a charging station for the first 30,000 charging points at homes or offices. Given that most two-wheeler charging stations cost less than Rs 6,000, you could walk home with a free charging station up on purchase of your next electric vehicle.

This policy should also give impetus to more motorcycle manufacturers to expand its operations in the city with brands like Ather and Bajaj seeking to expand their business in 2020.