Ashok Leyland, the Indian flagship of the Hinduja group, showcased its 55-tonne electric tractor-trailer on Tuesday at a mini expo organised by the company in the city.
The company will start commercial production of the electric tractor-trailers in India very soon and launch it in select markets, said Sanjeev Kumar, president, medium and heavy commercial vehicle (MHCV), Ashok Leyland while inaugurating the expo on Tuesday.
The company’s AVTR 55T electric tractor-trailer, which has a 300kWh battery and a range of 185 kilometres, is priced at ₹1.39 crore, while a comparable diesel variant costs ₹45 lakh. On EV adoption in the MHCV segment, Kumar pointed out that the adoption in the sector will be low.
“The government does not provide subsidies for EVs in the MHCV segment. What will drive adoption is the ESG requirements that companies will have to fulfil,” Kumar said.
The major component of EV costs are its battery and motor and this does not make EVs viable in the segment.
However, many big companies are looking for ESG (environmental, social and governance) scores and they want to shift their entire operations to green operations. Steel and cement companies are looking at e-trucks, he said.
“It will take more time for EVs in the MHCV segment to take off. The adoption rate will not be high till it reaches the cost of ownership similar to diesel. A lot will depend on how battery prices pan out.”
“We have homologated the electric tractor-trailers and are showcasing it at various markets during the mini-expos. We have received tremendous response and already have an order book of 50 tractor-trailers,” said Kumar.
