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India s electric vehicles face practical, technical hurdles
NEHA MEHROTRA, Associated Press
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1of9A driver of an electric car charges his vehicle at public charging station in New Delhi, India, Thursday, April 1, 2021. India has ambitions to expand use of electric vehicles to wean itself from polluting fossil fuels, but EVs are still a rarity on its congested highways. A lack of charging stations and poor quality batteries are discouraging drivers from switching over.Neha Mehrotra/APShow MoreShow Less
2of9A driver of an e-rickshaw waits for passengers at a busy market place in New Delhi, India, Sunday, March 28, 2021. India has ambitions to expand use of electric vehicles to wean itself from polluting fossil fuels, but EVs are still a rarity on its congested highways. A lack of charging stations and poor quality batteries are discouraging drivers from switching over.Neha Mehrotra/APShow MoreShow Less
A driver of an electric car charges his vehicle at a public charging station in New Delhi on April 1. (AP Photo)
NEW DELHI H.S. Panno, an independent contractor living in a spacious two-story penthouse in New Delhi, had his doubts when he bought his first electric car in September.
So far, he’s pleased with his savings on gas and maintenance, which are down by more than half, but disappointed with the practical limitations of driving his Nexon XZ+. For starters, he says he’s only getting 200 kilometers per charge, not the promised range of 315 kilometers. And he can’t drive the car outside the city because of a lack of charging stations.
2021/04/19 11:30 A driver of an electric car charges his vehicle at public charging station in New Delhi, India, Thursday, April 1, 2021. India has ambitions to expand. A driver of an electric car charges his vehicle at public charging station in New Delhi, India, Thursday, April 1, 2021. India has ambitions to expand use of electric vehicles to wean itself from polluting fossil fuels, but EVs are still a rarity on its congested highways. A lack of charging stations and poor quality batteries are discouraging drivers from switching over. (AP Photo/Neha Mehrotra) A driver of an e-rickshaw waits for passengers at a busy market place in New Delhi, India, Sunday, March 28, 2021. India has ambitions to expand use o.
Since he was a child, Santipada Gon Chaudhuri had sought ways to help India s rural poor, so when the electrical engineer was invited to visit a co-worker s home in the Himalayan village of Herma in the early 1980s, he saw his chance. I was appalled to see how local communities were living in darkness after sunset, remembered Chaudhuri, 71, who then worked for the government in the north-eastern state of Tripura. Some used kerosene lamps, but even kerosene was not always easy to get. Since I had both the skill and position to try and provide power to them, it made me act, he said.