According to Lexus Asia Pacific Division Head, Vince Socco, India is still not completely ready for mass production of pure electric cars as the technology is very new and needs to be dealt with in order to be adopted quickly by the people.
Vince Socco feels that Hybrid vehicles are the interim answer to the growing concerns of the Indian Government related to vehicular pollution and rising fuel import bill. The company says that every hybrid car on the road saves one tonne of CO2 emissions in three years.
Though the Government has increased the taxes on Hybrid vehicles under the GST regime, Lexus feels that there has to be a comprehensive strategy for dealing with the burning issues rather than a standalone electric vehicle strategy as laid by the Government as there are issues related to Electric vehicles which have to be dealt with at a national level first. The issues are mainly related to pricing of electric vehicles, which will be high, so people will not adapt easily to them and also, lack of charging stations Pan-India, which needs to be developed fast if the technology wishes to see the light of the day.
So, in order to manage this, initially hybrid vehicles should be a part of the larger solution as the technology is not new and is easily producible, meanwhile, Electric vehicles will also be a part of the long term solution for India.
