Indian government spending $4.1 billion on developing electric cars

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Indian government spending $4.1 billion on developing electric cars

India is at an important crossroads in its development. It’s got a billion people packed into an area about the size of the American southwest, and as their economy grows, all those people are going to eventually demand more cars, which leads to more pollution, which is something India has enough of already. So the country is dedicating over $4 billion to developing electric cars.

While India still has fewer cars on the road than countries like the U.S. and China, those cars tend to be heavy polluters. There are some electric models available in India — like the Mahindra Reva, pictured above — but high prices put them out of the reach of everyday consumers. The Reva, for example runs about $12,000 — four times more expensive than the popular Nano produced by Tata Motors. Instead of looking to electric cars, Indian manufacturers have looked to develop fuel efficient, low emission vehicles, especially after the government ended a significant subsidy for the vehicles earlier this year.

This latest round of government investment could give the industry cause to look more seriously at electrics as the vehicles of the future. About 2/3 of the funding will come from government coffers, with contributions from the auto industry making up the rest. The money will go not only towards research and development, but also help to put in place the charging infrastructure key to mainstreaming electric cars. And considering the energy distribution problems and blackouts India has faced recently, that’s no small challenge.

Via