These 10 Events In 2019 Will Define How Indians Drive In The Future!

If you look around, mobility in-general has seen a monumental shift in recent times. What used to be gas-guzzling pieces of metal have now gone silent with the introduction of batteries.

Heavy footfall areas, now expect to find huge mobility infrastructures like metros instead of relying on the buses. Travel time and cost to distant places have reduced while for last-mile travel, walking and cycling are back in practice.

In many ways, 2019 has been a year of these changes. The year started with a series of the unveiling of jaw-droppingly high-performance electric cars that claimed the speed record one after the other. Having set the performance bar for electric vehicles, this eventually helped the global OEMs to envision EVs as mass-market products.

What followed, was an embrace of the technology by almost all the renowned automakers in the world. Within 2019, we have seen several bringing their first-ever electric vehicle to the market and several others promising to launch them in the coming years.

On the other hand, governments have been coming up with solutions to incorporate these EVs. The idea is to replace the IC engine vehicles with EVs and for that, several incentives have been put in place within 2019. Then there have been laws guiding the general road behaviour.

As all this was unfolding, numerous startups have been working on groundbreaking technology to help provide mobility solutions to the world. From creating solar cars to electric aeroplanes and what not, these startups managed to create a world of difference with a simple yet brilliant idea of theirs.

Having a look at 2019 through all these aspects, here are the ten things that took place this year, which will ensure that how we travel will never be the same again:

1. FAME India Phase II

India¡¯s pursuit of electric vehicles finally reached the next step this year with the launch of FAME II after almost four years of the introduction of phase-I. With the new set of guidelines towards adopting EVs and incentivising those who do, the government also focussed on switching its own transportation fleet to an electric one.

For the same, the central government announced 5,000 electric buses across the country under the FAME II scheme and allotted Rs 2,500 crore for this. Check out all the guidelines under FAME-II here.

2. India a Solar Power Major

The world has been shifting to renewable sources of energy and solar is one that has seen the widest adoption. Interestingly, India now accounts for the cheapest possible production of solar energy as per a recent survey by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

Utilising this solar energy production can be a key to meet the country¡¯s energy crisis and as the production cost is only expected to go down, solar energy might become the new norm to power our EVs too! Read all about India¡¯s solar energy production here.

3. The Solar Car With 725 Km Range

Right around the time, we discussed the prospects of solar energy for countries, a long-time startup called Lightyear came up with its solar car that promised a whopping range of 725 km on a single charge! While that is impressive in itself, the solar car - Lightyear One, is also a masterful make and might just turn out to be the next big thing in the industry!

Read about the Lightyear One solar car here.

Lightyear One Solar Car (Image: Lightyear)

4. Biggest EV Launches in India

Back home, electric vehicles just entered the mainstage around this time of the year. Revolt RV400 came as India¡¯s first-ever electric bike, while Hyundai Kona managed to break the stereotypes associated with electric cars. Having shown the potency of electric vehicles, the two did manage to create a much-needed spark in the Indian EV world! Others like MG Motor India are now following the footsteps,

5. Biggest EV Launches in the world

While the domestic market was focussing on bringing potent electric vehicles to eliminate range anxiety, international markets had their own agendas. Mahindra backed Automobili Pininfarina came up with the fastest electric car in the world - the Battista, promising a mind-blowing top speed of more than 400 kmph through its 1900 bhp motor. Talk about power!

Japan, on the other hand, stressed on in-city battery-electric cars with limited ranges, as was seen during the Tokyo Motor Show. The idea is to use these EVs for a short-distance daily commute and hence increasing EV adoption in the process.

Global OEMs joined the race with their EV offerings too. Taycan Turbo S became the first EV from the house of Porsche while Harley Davidson had a similar stint with the LiveWire. To round up the excitement, Tesla came up with its futuristic pickup truck called Cybertruck recently and stole all the EV thunder for the time being.

Tesla Cybertruck was launched to take on Rivian R1T

6. Motor Vehicle Act

India saw one of the biggest road law acts in the history of the country being put to effect this year. Motor Vehicle Act 2019 now demands up to 10 times the initial penalty for breaking the laws on the Indian roads. The agenda was to force a safe way of driving and using the Indian roads in order to decrease the fatalities due to road accidents. Since its implementation, the new Motor Vehicle Act has seen a 66% decline in the number of traffic challans.

Here is all you need to know about the Motor Vehicle Act.

7. Vehicle Scrappage Policy

Another first in the country¡¯s history will be the Vehicle Scrappage Policy that is currently being worked upon. Set to come into effect next year, establishments for its implementation have already started coming up. Vehicle Scrappage Policy will ensure that the old vehicles in the country are discarded to obtain raw materials for new ones and also decrease one gas-spewing vehicle in the process. Here is all you need to know about the policy!

8. FASTag Use on NH Tolls

A great initiative to curb the traffic jams on NH tolls and make toll collection a smoother transaction was the introduction of FASTag IDs in India. The RFID based tags have seen monumental growth in their use within December and are only expected to grow in popularity hereon.

Here is what the FASTags are all about and if and how you should get one for your vehicle too!

FASTag (Representative Image: BCCL)

9. State EV Policies In The Making

Several Indian states came up with concrete plans to make a conscious effort towards using electric vehicles for transportation. Delhi recently established its own EV policy, offering up to Rs 1.5 lakh to EV buyers and a 100% subsidy to those buying EV charging equipment.

Here is what all the Delhi EV policy lists in order to encourage the use of electric vehicles in the national capital region.

10. EV Adoption At All-Time High

While the four-wheeler segment in India is still waiting for new offerings, the three-wheeler EV category surpassed the use of IC engine ones for the first time ever. The sale of electric three-wheelers in the country grew by 21 per cent during 2018-19, trumping that of petrol, diesel or CNG ones. Know the exact sales figures as per SIAM here.

We can see how 2019 has propelled India towards cleaner and newer ways of transport and continuous development on these parts are bound to carry on in 2020 as well. So till the time the ideal mode of travelling is achieved, all these milestones mark an important step towards the destination. With this, we bid farewell to 2019 and move towards a promising 2020!

We wish you all a very Happy New Year!