With 4,882, East Bengaluru on top in electric vehicle registrations
BENGALURU : At 4,882, Bengaluru East RTO in Indiranagar accounts for the highest number of electric vehicle registrations in the city, according to transport department records.
This is followed by Electronics City RTO (3,812), Bengaluru Central in Koramangala (1,869), KR Puram (1,213), Bengaluru West in Rajajinagar (1,060), Bengaluru North in Yeshwantpur (966), Jnanabharathi (297) and Yelahanka (266). Chandapura (214) has the fewest registrations.
Bengaluru is home to several mobility firms like Mahindra Electric, Ather Energy, Ola Electric and Bosch, but transport department data shows only around 15,000 electric vehicles are registered in the city so far. Karnataka was the first state to introduce an e-vehicle policy in the country and is planning to bring global EV maker Tesla to Bengaluru.
However, the state has a long way to go to achieve its ambitious plan of converting all existing fuel-run vehicles into environmental friendly ones by 2030. Statistics show 14,579 evehicles are registered in Bengaluru, including 9,591 two-wheelers, 254 autorickshaws and 4,734 cars. Karnataka has 26,209, e-vehicles, including 19,062 two-wheelers, 678 autos and 6,469 cars.
Records show Karnataka has a total of 2.5 crore registered vehicles, including 85.6 lakh in Bengaluru as on May 2021. This means evehicles constitute a small number of total vehicles in the state.
Transport department officials said high initial cost and inadequate charging infrastructure are the primary reasons for less number of e-vehicles. An official said areas falling under RTOs like Bengaluru East and Electronics City are home to a large number of techies.
“They are ready to pay more to purchase e-vehicles. Bescom has set up 126 charging stations in the city and is in the process of adding more. We are encouraging auto drivers to convert their vehicles into electric ones but the response is poor due to less demand,” said an official.
Kumar S, a resident of Rajajinagar, said: “I was planning to purchase an electric scooter but it costs more than the petrol one. The government should provide subsidies and make them cheaper than fuelrun vehicles so that more people can buy them. Also, the e-vehicle segment has fewer models, but we hope things will improve in the coming days.”
Source : timesofindia
