The new 18-seater feeder bus, which can run up to 200-km on a single charge, will now facilitate connectivity on the Lumbini Tourism Lines in the Himalayan country.

The zero-emission electric feeder bus, a joint venture of Goldstone Infratech and BYD Auto Industry, was launched by Ananth Geete, Union minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.

The makers will be delivering five units of this feeder bus to Nepal and hope to launch the transport facility in neighboring countries in the upcoming months.

Roadmap for the Future

The two companies released statements that speak about the nature and scope of such projects.

“We are greatly encouraged by the quality of electric buses that are being manufactured in India by Goldstone and these manufacturing facilities in India will be used for export to SAARC Countries. ‘eBuzz K6’ to be supplied to Nepal is a step in that direction. We are committed to making vehicles that are not only environment-friendly, but also help in greatly reducing the carbon footprint,” reads a statement by BYD India.

Meanwhile, Goldstone Infratech in its release said, “Our focus has not only been to ‘Make in India’, but also ‘Made for India’ to meet the requirements of our diversity in the landscapes and terrains of the country. Our proven ability to build customized, robust, yet sophisticated electric buses with utmost passenger comfort will enable us to meet the requirements of markets abroad too.”

Through such initiatives we are sure that both Nepal and India have reached a smart solution that will tackle their congestion and pollution concerns.

Talking about the challenges, he says the Tata team is constrained by the limited availability of charging facilities.

Nepal for Green Environment
This is not the first time that Nepal is being introduced to electric automobiles. Earlier in January-February of 2018, the country welcomed its first Electric Vehicle (EV), manufactured by Indian automobile giant Tata Motors.

Speaking about the project, Srujan Roy from Tata Motors talked about hard they were working to make these cars available in Nepal and that the Tata EV will be soon seen running across the country.

On a good note:

Nepal is well known for its environment-friendly decisions. The concept of running an electric feeder bus in the country only strengthens its hold as one of the countries who is serious about its environmental initiatives. This move not only boosts its take on a healthy environment but also gives its tourism sector a boost.

Kudos to Nepal for its efforts in preserving the ecology! We wish the nation luck for such undertakings in the future.

Also Read:

• Go Green: Nepal’s Transition to Green Vehicles Possible in 10 Years
• Leading Auto Giant Announces EVs In Nepal

The post Nepal To Get India’s First Made-In-India EV appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

Be it ramping up of hydropower projects adding to the country’s energy base, implementing ‘no-horn policy’ in Kathmandu, among others, Nepal is on pace for eco-friendly policies.

As a step ahead in the process, Nepal is also gearing up for early adoption of Electric Vehicles (EV) or green vehicles, which is in fact the high-priority task for most of the global nations.

Nepal’s former Finance Secretary Rameshore Khanal has some important information for us on Nepal’s willingness towards adoption of EVs.

“EVs will provide a measure of energy security for Nepal. As of now, the price of oil affects us in many ways, but when we switch to electric, the situation will be different,” says Khanal.

Khanal opines that the transition in Nepal for adoption of EVs will be quicker than in India.

“When there is disincentive to buy petrol-fueled cars, people will readily buy EVs. Whereas, in Nepal, there has been a voluntary adoption of EVs even when enough incentives are not in place,” he adds.

According to Khanal, Nepal has more charging stations per capita than India and has around 35 charging stations across the country.

Government Policies Can Take Ahead

According to Khanal, lack of standards and inadequate number of charging stations are two prime factors limiting EV adoption in Nepal.

The lack of proper governmental policies with regard to charging standard also remains another prime reason. “The government has not yet chosen the charging standard for electric cars. Government needs to choose one standard. This will encourage them to switch to EVs,” Khanal adds.

“With the right policies in place, we can achieve complete transition in 10 years. The transition for public vehicles will take longer but for private vehicles, we can do it in 10 years,” says Khanal.

Khanal further opined that there would be a day when petrol stations across the country will see a fall in business.

“So, my suggestion is that the government should make it mandatory for all petrol pumps in Nepal to set up a charging station for EVs. This will be a good investment as eventually, EVs will become the norm in Nepal,” he adds.

On a closing note, Khanal opines that the government should disincentivize the use of fossil fuel cars and should declare rural areas recently connected with the national road network and other areas like Singh Durbar, the administrative hub of the country, as ‘EV only zones’.

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