New Delhi’s recent Auto Expo was the venue for Indian automaker Mahindra to show it is serious about alternative-fuel technologies including hybrid, electric and hydrogen fuel systems.
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The Scorpio attracted most interest but it would be three to four years before a production hybrid variant hit Indian roads, according to M&M automotive sector president Pawan Goenka.
“The green machine is currently at a work-in-progress stage,” he told just-auto.
Parts of some products and technologies displayed at the expo will be seen in showrooms over the next one to two years and there are definite plans to roll them all out eventually.
The Scorpio hybrid couples a diesel CRDI engine to an electric transaxle and battery. The vehicle run 15-16 kilometres per litre and has a 600-700 km range.
The Scorpio hybrid will be India’s first all-wheel-drive, locally-developed hybrid SUV and, unlike “mild hybrids”, it will deliver a 30-80% improvement in fuel efficiency.
It has been developed under the supervision of Arun Jaura, head of research and product development who noted: “It will take at least a year to crank out a proven model for driving and another couple of years before it is commercially ‘productionised’.”
M&M showed two other alternative fuel concepts: the three-wheel electric Bijlee passenger carrier and a new hydrogen-powered three-wheel cargo vehicle called the HY-Alfa.
Deepesh Rathore/Tilak Swarup
