PM E-DRIVE scheme: after passenger vehicles, Kerala eyeing freight electrification

Kerala hopes to make a exemplary electrical motortruck (e-truck) corridor on the National Highway (NH) 66 arsenic portion of the State’s efforts to beforehand freight electrification nether the Centre’s PM Electric Drive Revolution successful Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) scheme.

The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB), successful collaboration with the International Council connected Clean Transportation (ICTT), organised a store present connected Wednesday, ‘Driving E-Truck Ecosystem with PM E-DRIVE Scheme,’ for positioning the State arsenic a frontrunner successful this emerging area.

Kerala has a small implicit 3 lakh electrical vehicles, mostly rider vehicles, connected its roads astatine present. The State is present successful the process of laying the groundwork for establishing high-capacity charging infrastructure and related facilities for e-trucks on freight corridors. Electricity Minister K. Krishnankutty, addressing the workshop, said electrification of trucks and different freight carriers is imperative for controlling c emissions and reducing aerial pollution.

Next captious frontier

Puneet Kumar, Additional Chief Secretary (Power), who inaugurated the workshop, described freight and logistics arsenic the “next captious frontier” if the State is superior astir decarbonisation and semipermanent sustainability. The ICTT is intimately collaborating with the KSEB and its EV Accelerator Cell to enactment evidence-based readying successful this area, helium said.

“This includes corridor-driven charging requirements, grid integration strategies and aboriginal aviator designs. This collaboration ensures that Kerala’s attack is information driven, internationally benchmarked and aligned with planetary champion practices portion remaining firmly grounded successful section operational realities,” Mr. Puneet Kumar said.

While mean and heavy-duty trucks represent a tiny stock of the vehicles connected road, they correspond a disproportionately ample stock of substance consumption, starring to greenhouse state emissions, sound and municipality aerial pollution. Multiple beingness rhythm studies person indicated that e-trucks tin trim full greenhouse emissions. This firmly establishes e-trucks arsenic a cornerstone exertion for decarbonising freight transport, helium said.

“For Kerala, this modulation has contiguous and section relevance. Our large freight corridors, the NH 66 and cardinal State highways, walk done densely populated and environmentally delicate regions,” Mr. Puneet Kumar said. India is projected to necessitate astir 9 Gigawatts (GW) of installed high-capacity charging infrastructure for electrical trucks by 2030 and expanding to astir 170 GW by 2050. These figures marque it wide that freight electrification is not conscionable peripheral, but foundational to India’s nett zero transport pathways, helium said.

Incentives offered

R. Harikumar, director, Energy Management Centre, urged the KSEB to follow a differentiated inducement strategy for backstage e-trucks and Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) e-buses, based connected the prime and certainty of energy demand, successful summation to the incentives offered by the PM E-Drive scheme.

Minhaj Alam, Chairman and Managing Director, KSEB; Transport Commissioner Nagaraju Chakilam; Krithika P.R., programme lead, ICTT; Pramoj Shankar, CMD, KSRTC; and KSEB Director Sajeev G. besides spoke.