Indian automobile maker Maruti Suzuki India plans to develop hybrid electric cars as a consequence of a joint venture (JV) with Japanese battery makers, Indian business news website MintAsia reported.
“Nobody is producing lithium-ion batteries in India. To realize (electric) vehicles, we need lithium-ion batteries. That’s why Suzuki decided to make lithium-ion battery packs here,” said Kenichi Ayukawa, managing director and chief executive of Maruti Suzuki India.
“They are already collaborating in Japan to produce hybrid vehicles. They want to take up this challenge here… We want to use those batteries for our cars,” Ayukawa said.
The JV between top Japanese auto players Suzuki Motor, Toshiba and Denso will start this year with production to follow shortly afterwards. The initial capital expenditure will be 20 billion Japanese yen (approx $184 million).
Suzuki, which holds a 50% share and leads the JV, said the move would be crucial for the success of India’s electric vehicle pursuits. It will bring down the cost of batteries and prop up the sales of electric vehicles at a time when vehicular pollution has come under severe scrutiny from the judiciary, the government and non-governmental organizations.
MintAsia said the majority of batteries for EVs were imported from China. It also noted lithium-ion batteries accounted for 50% of the cost of an electric vehicle, making these cars more expensive than traditional cars.