In an attempt to power the transportation needs of the government, Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) has announced that it will be procuring more electric vehicles soon. These EVs will be bought from two major OEMs - Tata Motors and Hyundai Motor India.
As per EESL, 250 new EVs will be procured for use by the employees of both the Central and State Governments. While 150 of these will be the Tata Nexon EV electric SUVs, the rest 100 will be a step up to Hyundai Kona EV.
EESL selected the two auto majors for their EVs through an international competitive bidding process aimed at increased participation. Through the process, it has been ensured that EESL procures these electric vehicles at a subsidised rate.
Hyundai Kona EV, priced at Rs 23.7 lakh, will be procured at Rs 21.36 lakh by EESL, an 11 percent? lower rate than the market. Meanwhile, the Nexon EV will see a price cut of Rs 13,000 (0.87 percent) from Rs 14.99 lakh.
Both models have been procured with the standard 3-year warranty pack and a separate 8-year warranty for the battery pack. The new EVs are meant to replace the existing fleet of petrol and diesel vehicles being used by the Central and state governments.
This is not the first time that EESL is opting for EVs other than the standard Tata Tigor EV and the Mahindra eVerito. After the two electric sedans failed to receive a positive feedback, mainly due to their limited range, EESL had shifted to the Kona EV for this transition.
Hyundai now confirms that it had supplied ten units of the Hyundai Kona to EESL last year.
Now with Nexon EV in the race, the two different makes will be able to cater to different types of use cases for the government employees, in an environment-friendly way like never before.