Pune: The Pune Regional Transport Office (RTO) has registered 459 electric vehicles that include e-rickshaws, e-carts and e-cars up to March 2019. In the last few months, the demand for battery operated vehicles has touched a new height, said an official.
As per information provided by the RTO, many citizens, especially professionals, find the daily cost of driving electric vehicles cheaper compared to their petrol counterparts. “In the last few months, several people have been inquiring about the registration process of these vehicles. We have registered 21 e-rickshaws, 95 e-carts and 343 e-cars (four wheelers) till March 2019,’’ he said.
Apart from Pune city, demand in Pimpri-Chinchwad and Solapur for e-vehicles is also high. Pimpri-Chinchwad has registered 2 e-rickshaws, 7 e-carts and 22 e-cars while Solapur has registered only 6 e-rickshaws in one year.
“People have become conscious about the environment, which is the main reason behind the demand for e-vehicles in the city. It is cheaper and has less maintenance cost compared to petrol and diesel vehicles. We have already deputed an officer inside the office to help citizens about registration and other inquiries,” said a senior RTO officer.
“Pune is at the top among other cities like Mumbai, Thane and Kalyan. Mumbai has less demand for e-cars and there is no demand of e-rickshaws,” said the officer.
The demand for e-carts is also rising. The Pune airport has already started ferrying passengers through e-carts.
“It is a one-time investment and we have already used it since last year. The cost of petrol is rising, which eventually increases the demand of e-vehicles,” said Sachin Deshpande, an e-car owner from Warje.
