Pure Play EV Taxi Operator Plans Major Expansion In India

Lithium Taxis for Indian Corporate Customers

After Ola and Uber, another major taxi operator in India making news is Lithium. As the name implies, this taxi operator only uses EVs as taxis. The company does not play in the normal taxi market but plies cars for corporate customers. EVs in India are not cost competitive as the suppy chain is under developed with few charging points. There are hardly many choices to buy EVs in India and even those first movers face many headaches as there is almost a complete absence of charging point infrastructure in India. You have to mostly rely on your own charging point plus the range is severely limited for EVs . EV’s cost around 2.5 times more than petrol/diesel vehicles and the government does not give too many incentives, unlike foreign countries who have aggressively pushed the adoption of Electric Vehicles.

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However, corporate customers with a green inclination can afford to pay a slightly higher rate for green friendly transportation and that is the niche that Lithium has targeted. The company plans to increase the number of cars to 1000. It is based around the National Capital Region of Delhi which has a huge market for cabs and taxis. Many companies in the capital use thousands if not hundreds of thousands of cabs to transport employees from the home to office. This is done as the public transport infrastructure in the country is not that great!