On the occasion of World EV Day, Mr. Kishor Patil joined Autocar Professional’s International e-conference on electric mobility on Wednesday, 9th September 2020. The theme of the e- conference was ‘Scaling up in the Midst of Challenges.’
Mr. Kishor Patil joined as a panelist at the e-conference’s first session titled ‘Can EVs step up the game in the post COVID era?’. The other panelists in the session were Mr. Henrik Fisker, Chairman and CEO, Fisker Inc., Mr. Naveen Munjal, MD, Hero Eco Group, and President, SMEV, Anand Kulkarni, Product Line Director, Electric Mobility, Tata Motors. Discussion was moderated by Autocar Professional’s Mr Sumantra Barooah.
Mr. Patil brought forth how we cannot look at the EV technology adoption in isolation. We need to also focus on the overall aspect of how software, collaboration, and integration is playing a critical role in the transformation of the mobility industry including Autonomous and Connected. He spoke on how in Europe, governments continue to support the EV OEMs and their combined focus remains to be strong in terms of the infrastructure, components, and software even during the times of COVID. On his take on the state of the EV sector in India, Mr. Patil believes that the key lies in infrastructure and government policies along with the industry’s focus on software, collaboration, and standardization. On the topic of which segment of vehicles would see the fastest mass adoption in India, Mr. Patil opines that it would be the two-wheeler and public bus transportation segments that would beat the passenger vehicles in the race.
Further, the panel discussed and shared thoughts on the present state of the sector and the direction it’s heading. It brought forth to the audience the facts on how the technology has improved and become cheaper to make electric vehicles more efficient and affordable for the consumers. Thus, extending the opportunity to the coming generation of first-time vehicle owners to become early adopters of the technology. The panel further discussed how software is at the center of not only the EV sector but the entire automotive industry as it undergoes the biggest disruption in its known history. In the future, the panel agreed that COVID will leave its impact and it would be on the governments and the industry players to collaborate and integrate technologies to make a quick come back. Concerning when can we see the EV sector contribute up to 10% of the auto share globally, the panel believed that it might take 4-5 years for the same.
Full panel discussion recording of this first session titled ‘Can EVs step up the game in the post COVID era?’ Starts at 53 mins 16 secs.
