Suzuki, the Japan-based parent of India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki, has started real-life testing of electric vehicles in India.
The company had, in September, promised to bring 50 units of its electric vehicles to India for conducting tests in real life conditions.
“This extensive real-life usage of the vehicles in multiple terrains and climatic conditions will help the company get valuable insights that will help in validation and successful launch of Electric Vehicle technology in India,” Maruti Suzuki said.
The company had, last month, exhibited a prototype that looked a bit like the WagonR (see picture). The Indian company reiterated the deadline of 2020 to introduce its first electric vehicle into India.
“Testing of these vehicles will also help Maruti Suzuki to gather critical inputs based on customer perspectives and will help to create a reliable and suitable Electric Vehicle to delight Indian customers,” the Indian company said.
Given that the units being tested in India have all been developed independently by Suzuki Corporation in Japan, it is likely that Maruti Suzuki — the Indian unit — will depend entirely on its parent for its electric vehicle technology.
The models undergoing testing, however, were built at Maruti Suzuki’s Gudgaon plant and were flagged off at the facility.
“These Proto-type Electric Vehicles have been developed on an existing model of Suzuki Motor Corporation, Japan,” it said.
The Indian unit regularly licenses technology from the Japanese firm and pays royalty to the parent.