UK-based steel tycoon Sanjeev Gupta may soon be responsible for bringing Formula 1-inspired electric cars to India and Australia. These cars could roll out early next decade, according to a Bloomberg report.
“We are talking about city cars, about small, light, very, very economical cars,” Sanjeev Gupta said in an interview to Bloomberg in Sydney. “We will launch both in India and in Australia.” The executive chairman of Liberty House Group has a number of businesses ranging from manufacturing to banking, and automobiles could be the latest addition.
The aim is to build a lightweight city car based on a design by Gordon Murray, a South African-born British designer of Formula One race cars and the McLaren F1 road car.
At present, India does not have a significant market for electric vehicles. EVs contribute to about 0.1% of India's total new vehicle sales, but the demand is going to increase in coming years. With more affordable models entering the market in coming years, EVs are expected to play a crucial role in private car segments.
The Indian government has been setting the arena ready for electric vehicles. The Narendra Modi government wants all new vehicles sold from 2030 to be electric ones. However, it is not going to be an easy task.
In most electric vehicles the battery is the most expensive item, thereby increasing the price tag of the car. Therefore, it is important to have the batteries in the vehicles be leased rather than bought as part of the price tag of the car, reported Hindustan Times. "If the battery’s capital cost is absorbed into a long-term rental fee, electric vehicles become much more affordable," the report noted.
