Maruti Suzuki to begin testing electric vehicles in India next month

At the ongoing Move summit, Osamu Suzuki, chairman, Suzuki Motor announced that the company will begin testing EVs in India by October. According to Suzuki, the company plans to start testing 50 prototype vehicles with the aim to evaluate the power system and gather performance data in Indian traffic and climate conditions.

The prototype, however, will not necessarily be the models coming to India but Suzuki said that the company is working on safe and easy-to-use EVs for its customers. He added that the company, as reported earlier, will commence production of lithium-ion batteries for automobiles at its Gujarat battery plant in 2020.

Last November, the company announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Toyota to jointly introduce electric vehicles in India by 2020. The terms of the MoU stated that Suzuki will produce EVs for the Indian market and supply a few to Toyota, while the latter will provide technical support for the electric models.

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