Andhra Govt has Plans in Place to fit Electric Batteries in Autos

The Andhra government is mulling replacing existing IC engines in autos with electric batteries in a move aimed at lowering pollution levels in the major cities.

The Andhra Pradesh government is mulling replacing existing internal combustion (IC) engines in auto-rickshaws (autos) plying in the key districts of the state with electric batteries in a move aimed at lowering air pollution levels in the major cities.

TOI reports that to encourage auto-rickshaw owners to switch to the new technology, the government plans to set up battery swapping stations and a number of charging stations. “According to studies, 37 percent of air pollution is generated by vehicles. We need to act fast to move to electric vehicles (EVs) as ambient air quality is not up to the mark in many cities including Vijayawada, Rajahmundry and Visakhapatnam,” New and Renewable Energy Development Corporation (NREDC) MD S Ramana Reddy told TOI.

A majority of the nearly one crore vehicles plying the roads in the state are either two- or three-wheelers, Ramana Reddy said. Given the growing auto-rickshaw fleet, the state plans to swap batteries in autos with electric retrofit kits, Ramana Reddy said, adding the corporation has sought the support of AP Pollution Control Board and GMR Foundation.

“Providing electric retrofit kits with swappable batteries for three-wheeler high-speed passenger autos in place of IC engine will be the first-of-its-kind in the country,” said Ramana Reddy.

The corporation has also submitted a proposal to the International Centre for Automotive Technologies (ICAT), Manesar for developing human resources and imparting skills in Electric Vehicles Technologies (EVT) to a young workforce.

Recently, it was also reported that the state government is planning to set up seven Pumped Hydro Storage Power Projects (PSP) as part of its decision to promote new renewable energy power plants in the state. The PSP mode is likely to balance fluctuations in total input power from the existing renewable energy plants depending on solar and wind power stations. PSP projects will act as large-scale energy storage stations.

Per local reports, the state government has identified seven locations to set up PSP plants to the tune of nearly 6,300 megawatts. “This is a new concept on the energy storage platform and brings new life to the renewable energy sector,” said S Ramana Reddy, Managing Director of New and Renewable Energy Development Corporation (NREDC) while addressing the local press.