NHEV to Include Electric, Hydrogen, and Zero Emission Freight Vehicles in Chennai-Trichy Trial
National Highways for Electric Vehicles (NHEV) is set to begin with their 3rd TechTrial Run, on World EV day, September 9. The Trial will cover a 332 km stretch from Chennai to Trichy including Electric, Hydrogen and Zero Emission Freight vehicles for the first time, in addition to electric SUVs & Buses tested in previous Trials. This 3rd technical and data driven trial with commercially prototyped technologies, products and services is aimed to include logistical aspect of freight and deployment of electric, hydrogen & ZET vehicles in 5500 km e-highway, currently under upgradation with NHEV. Various manufacturing and production driven sectors, planning their zero-emission transition by decarbonizing their surface transport as their lowest hanging fruit for ESG compliance, shall be motivated to join this transition with deployment / subscription of ZET vehicles for their logistic usages after this TechTrial.
"No hydrogen or electric trucks are today available for businesses to transport their goods despite of their lower operating costs compared to Diesel. This Technical Trial is aimed to get real time on ground data to start their initial deployment on pilot basis as we previously did under Ease of Doing Business program for electric buses and SUVs with our e-mobility pilot project called National Highways for Electric Vehicles (NHEV)", said Abhijeet Sinha, Project Director, NHEV
He added that the challenge is to bring insights from this trial to serve the stakeholders, users, subscribers, financers, banks, operators, vendors and OEMs to take informed decisions on immediate deployment of ZET, Hydrogen and Electric Freight. To thoroughly assess the technical viability & efficiency of ZET mobility and green infrastructure, the trial will test several key factors:
* 1 Ton / Km Diesel Vs Electric Vs Hydrogen Cost: Evaluating the cost efficiency of electric vehicles compared to diesel vehicles for freight.
* Total Cost of Ownership for a Fleet of 10 EV Buses or ZET Trucks: Analysing the overall expenses involved in maintaining a fleet of electric buses and trucks.
* Breakeven Period for 1 EV Bus / Truck as per utilization: Determining the time required to recover the investment in electric buses and trucks through operational savings, optimized utilization and obtaining maximum subscription in price war.
* E-highway freight Infra per KM Upgradation Cost: Estimating the Indian e-highway upgradation cost of Rs 1 Cr / km as compared to the German cost of 24 Cr / km on electric corridors.
"We are elated to co-organise the TechTrial Run III, which is poised to be highly inclusive and comprehensive for E-Highway upgradation starting from Tamil Nadu paving the way for intercity E-Buses & ZET Vehicles' deployment in four neighbouring states, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka. Our collaboration with the Guidance Tamil Nadu and the Government of Tamil Nadu to bring Rs. 1300 Cr. INR investment in green surface transport, Zero Emission transportation (ZET) and renewable charging infrastructure is now coming to realization in a phased manner along with these deployments and infra development. Turiya EV Charge Partners being a state partner and official nodal agency of NHEV, underscores our commitment to advancing e-mobility and supporting the region's transition to a greener future.", Said Mr. Sashi Kumar CK, MD, EV Charge Partners.
* The NHEV Pilot Project
The National Highway for EV (NHEV) is a pilot program initiated by the Government of India, supported by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry and the Ministry of Science and Technology's Department of Science and Technology (DST). The program aims to upgrade highways into E-Highways, with technical trials conducted on two pilot corridors: the Delhi-Agra Yamuna Expressway (2021) and the Delhi-Jaipur NH48 (2022). These corridors are part of the 12 national corridors proposed for electrification by the Ministry of Power in its guidelines and standards dated 14.12.2018. The NHEV operates on a Hybrid Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Model called Annuity Hybrid E-Mobility (AHEM). Currently, the program is expanding to cover 5,500 km of E-Highways along the Bharatmala and Sagarmala routes, stretching from Delhi to Kanyakumari via the Mumbai and Kolkata corridors.