In an effort to tackle vehicular pollution, petrol vehicles older than 15 years and diesel vehicles older than 10 years are banned from operating in Delhi, following directions of the National Green Tribunal and the Supreme Court. Owners face heavy fines, scrappage requirements at authorised facilities, or must obtain a No Objection Certificate to sell their vehicles outside the state.

What is retrofitting?

Retrofitting involves replacing the existing petrol or diesel powertrain with electric components such as batteries, motors, and drivetrains. The objective is to extend a vehicle’s usable life while meeting modern emission norms.

Although retrofitting offers a sustainable alternative to scrapping, the high cost of conversion kits has discouraged widespread adoption. To address this concern, the draft EV Policy 2.0 proposes financial support to make retrofitting more economically viable.

The post Retrofitting Old Vehicles into EVs Might Earn You ₹50,000: Delhi Government first appeared on Turbocharged.

In terms of looks, it features Skoda’s Modern Solid design language that lends the SUV a fairly butch stance. Upfront you get a familiar Skoda grille albeit in a sleeker form flanked by T-shaped DRLs. It gets a split headlamp setup and the lower bumper finished in black features a rugged design. At the sides, you get a squared-off wheel arch with black cladding running across the lower body. The T-shaped light elements and rugged bumper can be seen on the rear as well. It features a minimalist interior design with a big touchscreen infotainment display taking the centre stage. It gets a two-spoke steering wheel behind which sits a minimalistic digital driver’s display. 

Technical specifications of this SUV are yet to be revealed but it is claimed to deliver around 400km range on a single charge and is expected to be underpinned by Volkswagen group’s Modular electric drive matrix (MEB) platform. While there has been no official announcement, the marque together with Volkswagen could develop a more affordable version of its all-electric platform for developing markets like India. The same strategy they used to develop the MQB-AO-IN that underpins the Skoda Kushaq and Slavia, and their Volkswagen counterparts – Taigun and Virtus. Stay tuned to this space for more updates.

The post Skoda Epiq fully-electric SUV unveiled  first appeared on Turbocharged.

This benefit comes with a condition that the manufacturer needs to commit a minimum investment of 500 million dollars (around Rs 4,150 crore) and build a local manufacturing facility within three years of setting up operations in India. The policy is effective immediately and the total EV imports will be capped at 40,000 units with a limit of 8,000 units per annum. The duty cut will be limited to the amount of investment made by the manufacturer or 800 million dollars (around Rs 6,484 crore), whichever is lower.

This is great news for Tesla, as the American carmaker has shown interest in entering the Indian market and even set up a factory if the government was willing to reduce the tax on EV imports. Even the Model 3, which is Tesla’s most affordable offering, costs 38,990 dollars (around Rs 32 lakh) in the US market, and hence will benefit from tax reduction. 

Recently, VinFast, a Vietnamese EV carmaker, started the construction of its manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu and even announced plans to invest 2 billion dollars in the country. Meanwhile, now the carmaker can take benefit from this tax reduction and launch their products to familiarise us with them. 

Existing carmakers like Audi, BMW, Mercedes and even Kia who import some or all of their electric offerings in India can benefit from this tax reduction. We expect a few price revisions to be announced in the coming days. 

The post Government of India slashes EV import tax to 15 percent, but there’s a catch first appeared on Turbocharged.