CoronaVirus Not Likely To Affect Sales Of Electric Vehicles?
Electric vehicle sales in the country increased by 20 percent to 1.56 lakh units in 2019-20. Sales of electric vehicles have increased mainly due to increasing sales of two wheelers. Sales figures do not include e-rickshaws. The Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) said in a statement on Monday that the total electric vehicle sales stood at 1.3 lakh units in 2018-19.
Sold 3,400 cars and 600 electric buses
The total electric vehicle sales stood at 1.52 lakh for two-wheelers, 3,400 cars and 600 buses in FY 2019-20. In 2018-19, there were 1.26 lakh two-wheelers, 3,600 cars and about 400 buses. SMEV said, “The figure does not include e-rickshaw which is still largely unorganized.” According to the sales figures, the e-rickshaw sales stood at around 90,000 units in 2019-20 compared to the previous year’s figures.
According to the organization, electric two-wheelers are the leading contributors to the pace of sales of electric vehicles in the country. SMEV said, “Electric scooters accounted for 97 percent of the sales of electric two-wheelers. In addition, 3 percent of motorcycles and electric bicycles were sold. According to the figures, in the case of cars, 3,400 units were sold in 2019-20 as compared to 3,600 units in the previous year”.
The reason for the decrease in car sales is not due to bulk e-car purchases in 2019-20. Regarding the e-bus, the organization said that the commitment made by the states towards the purchase was not fulfilled. SMEV Director General Sohinder Gill said, “The electric vehicle market is booming and we believe that 2020-21 will prove to be a significant year for the sector despite the Corona virus crisis.”
Number of corona virus patients reached 17,265 in the country, 543 deaths so far
Coronavirus continues to wreak havoc in each country. All sectors, economies are on a standstill. In India as well, cases are increasing rapidly. The pace of the increase indicates the need of lockdown 3.0 as on an average 1000 cases are being reported daily.
The number of coronavirus cases has crossed 24lakh worldwide with 6 lakh above recoveries and 1 lakh above deaths. In India the total number of cases have reached 17,265 with 543 deaths. The number of people recovered has reached 2,547. According to the data released by the health ministry, 1324 people have tested positive in the last 24 hours.
