While EV manufacturing and use have gained quite a lot of traction now and it has offerings for users in all segments, whether it is SUVs, hatchbacks, or sedans it was not so years back. We have highlighted the sudden surge of electric vehicles in India in the recent years, but there has been a failure in highlighting some of the earlier models that were way ahead of their time when they were launched.
The first electric car in the history of India was launched 32 years ago, in the year 1993. However, users saw no potential in it at that point in time, and only close to 100 units were sold but it was a real advent at that time. During that period, emission controls were a thing of the future, and manufacturers were developing bigger engines that produced puny horsepower figures. It was only after the US 1970 oil embargo that manufacturers in the United States started to detune their engines, knocking them down to produce better power figures with smaller engines and become more power-efficient.
Here’s how the Indian market’s EV-producing journey has been from then till now
The country’s first electric car was called the Love Bird, and it was launched in 1993. At that time, the market was flooded with petrol and diesel vehicles, and users could not get on board with the idea of driving around in an electric car. The car was first introduced at the 1993 Auto Expo, and it was developed by a company called Eddy Current Controls in collaboration with Japan’s Yaskawa Electric Company and was produced in Tamil Nadu.
Love Bird, the first Indian electric car
The Love Bird was a two-seater electric car. It was small and compact in size and featured a rechargeable battery that offered a range of only 60 km on a single charge. Its battery reached a full level of charge in eight hours.
No more than 100 were sold
The market was different than what it is now. Back then, users preferred bigger vehicles such as the Ambassador, and hence not even 100 units were sold in the market. A very minimal charging infrastructure existed in the market. The manufacturer discontinued its production soon after, but the presence of the car introduced the concept that vehicles could also run on electricity.
Mahindra Reva
Following the Love Bird, Mahindra launched the Reva in the year 2001, a two-seater electric car. It became way more popular than the Love Bird and recorded significantly higher sales numbers than the Love Bird. Even then, due to the lack of a charging infrastructure, electric car sales were slow in the early 2000s.
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