Government body EESL has ordered 100 units of the Hyundai Kona Electric and 150 units of the Tata Nexon EV. Tata Motors and Hyundai won the tender to supply these EVs to EESL for government use in an international competitive bidding process. EESL will use the Asian Development Bank’s recent US$ 5 million grant for buying these EVs. The featured image, which EESL posted on twitter.com originally, is from the delivery event.
EESL will give the new long-range EVs it is procuring from Hyundai and Tata Motors to Central and State Governments so that they can replace their petrol and diesel vehicles with more eco-friendly ones. It has already received an order of 300 units from the Agency for Non-Conventional Energy and Rural Technology (ANERT), Kerala. In fact, just last week, it delivered two Hyundai Kona Electric units to this agency on lease.
Image Source: twitter.com
Hyundai Kona & Tata Nexon EV at a special price for EESL
It is not every day that we see the Indian government procuring high-end imported vehicles like the Hyundai Kona Electric in such big numbers. However, that’s the only other choice EESL has apart from the Tata Nexon EV right now in the long-range EVs. Probably that’s why it’s shelling out big money to acquire the Korean electric SUV. Acquiring the MG ZS EV for government use is probably not an option at the current time.
EESL says that it will bulk-buy the Hyundai Kona Electric and the Tata Nexon EV at INR 21.36 lakh (including 3-year warranty) and INR 14.86 lakh respectively. Compared to their retail prices, it mentions a savings of 11% on the Korean SUV and INR 13,000 on the Indian SUV. A savings of INR 13,000 on the Tata Nexon EV at INR 14.86 lakh means that EESL has picked it in the mid-range XZ+ trim. Take a look at the retail prices of the Hyundai Kona Electric and the Tata Nexon EV below:
| Model | Price (Ex-showroom Delhi) |
| Hyundai Kona Electric Premium | INR 23,75,900 |
| Hyundai Kona Electric Premium Dual-Tone | INR 23,94,649 |
| Tata Nexon EV XM | INR 13,99,000 |
| Tata Nexon EV XZ+ | INR 14,99,000 |
| Tata Nexon EV XZ+ LUX | INR 15,99,000 |
EESL to procure 750 additional EVs
According to a recent report from The Economic Times, EESL floated a tender to acquire 1,000 electric vehicles. The other 750 electric vehicles were going to be e-taxis, but their order has been put on hold. The source said that e-taxi operators were concerned about making any fresh investments right now, and so, EESL will wait till the demand for e-taxis resurges.
The tender of 1,000 electric vehicles comes three years after the tender of 10,000 electric vehicles in 2017. The latter got a lot of attention from media for the obvious reasons, and Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra won it. However, it was scrapped. We did see Tata Motors deliver a small quantity of the Tata Tigor EV as part of the old tender, though.
The requirement under the new tender was for two types of electric vehicles: 750 units with a standard 3-year warranty and 3-year comprehensive annual maintenance costs and 250 units with a standard 6-year warranty and 6-year comprehensive annual maintenance costs. Mahindra did not participate in this tender.
Also Read: These are the 15 upcoming electric car models in India
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