DICV Announces Foray Into EVs With The eCanter Light Duty Truck The launch of the all-electric eCanter in India, within the next 6 to 12 months, is the first step in DICV's long-term strategy to decarbonize its entire product portfolio.
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Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV), the wholly-owned subsidiary of Daimler Truck AG on Wednesday announced its foray into the Indian battery electric market with the all-electric, Next-Generation eCanter.
The market launch of the all-electric eCanter in India demonstrates the company's first step towards its larger vision to decarbonize its entire product portfolio in the long term. The all-electric eCanter, which marks DICV's foray into India's light-duty truck segment, will be launched in the market within the next six to 12 months.
With a clear vision to decarbonize the transportation industry and reduce resource consumption, Daimler Truck is striving for its new trucks and buses to be CO2-neutral globally by 2050.
Satyakam Arya, Managing Director & CEO, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles said, "All our efforts are being put into achieving robust readiness for our future products that will feature CO2-neutral propulsion technologies in the long term. The launch of the all-electric eCanter in India, within the next 6 to 12 months, is the first step in our long-term strategy to decarbonize our entire product portfolio."
"A long-term plan like ours hinges on many complex external factors, some of which are, the availability of a charging and refuelling infrastructure, the availability of green energy, cost parity and wide-scale customer acceptance. Therefore, our initial focus with the eCanter is to achieve product and service excellence, along with customer acceptance," Arya added.
DICV has a keen eye on the how the Indian market shapes up over the years. The company's CO2-neutral propulsion technology roadmap is being prepared in line with Daimler Truck's global technology strategy with battery electric and hydrogen-based drive technologies.
DICV has already developed a BharatBenz hydrogen fuel cell concept coach in alliance with a large Indian conglomerate. In the future, DICV will introduce trucks across different utility segments that will serve long haul, mining, construction, POL, dumper, RMC and so forth for various freight and terrain requirements.
"LNG, if used at all, will be an interim, tactical solution for long haul transportation. We will primarily commit to battery-electric and hydrogen-based propulsion technologies across our future product portfolio, in a phased manner. One thing is for sure that we will be ready with the right vehicles when the market is," he said.
Commenting on how a conducive policy framework is crucial to ensuring economic viability for customers, he added, "Successful adoption of CO2-neutral vehicles is possible if there is wide consumer acceptance about changes in the equations of total cost of ownership. This underscores the influence of important factors in achieving success in sustainable mobility solutions. By foraying into the CO2-neutral propulsion technologies, DICV aims at contributing to India's future as it progresses towards becoming one of world's top five commercial vehicle markets."
