Piaggio intends to launch a fully electric three-wheeler in India by mid 2019, according to a PTI report. The three-wheelers will be largely manufactured in house with some components, including lithium-ion battery cells, sourced from external suppliers. The company added that components like the engine and the battery management system will be completely localized.
Diego Graffi, chief executive officer and managing director, Piaggio Vehicles, said, “India is one country which is investing more on electric mobility. We are preparing for this right in advance …demand at the moment is not very big but we expect it to increase quite fast so we plan to introduce our fully electric three-wheeler by the middle of this year.”
Graffi went on to add that the launch of the fully electric three-wheeler will mark the beginning of Piaggio’s electrification strategy in India. Once that is done, the company plans to expand the scope of its electric strategy to include cargo and big passenger segment vehicles as well.
While the company remains focused on electrification of its offerings in India, it isn’t considering hybrid solutions for its commercial vehicles portfolio. Graffi said that while Piaggio does have hybrid applications in Europe, it will have to study their feasibility in India before it decides to launch them here. And that, he said, might happen at a later stage.
And with India bracing for the transition to BS 6 norms, the company too is undertaking measures to ensure that its products remain compliant with the new emission standards. Piaggio already has a fuel application mechanism for its product portfolio; besides that, the company has also organized its investments so as to be prepared for the transition by the end of 2019. Graffi said that though the exercise has proven to be a significant challenge, Piaggio is “quite ready” to take on the job.
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