Road Ministry allows sale, registration of electric vehicles without batteries

New Delhi [India], Aug 12 : The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) on Wednesday announced that it has allowed registration of electric vehicles without pre-fitted batteries.
"The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has allowed registration of electric vehicles without pre-fitted batteries. Further, that there is no need to specify the Make/Type or any other details of the Battery for the purpose of Registration," the ministry said in a press release.
However, the prototype of the electrical vehicle and the battery (regular battery or the swappable battery) is required to be type approved by the test Agencies specified under Rule 126 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, the ministry further said.
"The Government is striving to create an ecosystem to accelerate the uptake of electric mobility in the country. It is time to come together to work jointly to achieve the broader national agenda to reduce vehicular pollution and oil import bill. This will not only protect the environment and reduce the oft import bill but also provide opportunities to sunrise industry," the Union Road and Highway ministry said.
The ministry further said that the promotion of electrical two-wheelers and three-wheeler vehicles, there are recommendations brought to the notice of the Ministry to delink the cost of the battery (which accounts for 30-40 per cent of the total cost) from the vehicle cost.
"Vehicles could then also be sold in the market without the battery. This will make the upfront cost of the electrical 2 wheeler (2W) and 3 wheelers (3W) to be lower than ICE 2 and 3W. The battery could be provided separately by the OEM or the energy service provider," the ministry added.