Zero Emission Trucking by IIT Madras: What’s Next? How Your Existing Trucks Will Be Affected? Will Truck Prices Increase?

The logistics and transportation sector is the front player in India’s green transition because the transportation industry contributes more to carbon emissions than every other sector. It is hard to become a zero-emission industry. Still, one of the key institutions working hard to enable the shift to happen is IIT Madras. 

They have launched several initiatives to promote green mobility among those initiatives Centre of Excellence for Zero-emission Trucking is a department that aims to accelerate the adoption of zero-emission in medium and heavy-duty trucks in India. 

This article explores how the IIT Madras initiative and the future of zero-carbon emission trucking in India will impact the existing truck industry and whether the price of new trucks will rise because of this development. 

Let’s explore. 

In general zero-emission trucking refers to the use of hydrogen fuel cells, electricity, or any other alternative energy source for driving heavy trucks. To accelerate this initiative IIT Madras has launched several programs. 

A few of them are Centre of Excellence for Zero-emission Trucking. This helps in developing new technologies for zero-emission trucks. This supports pilot programs for electric and hydrogen-powered heavy vehicles. Also, this dedicated Research and Innovation Centre helps in collaborating with the government and industrial players. 

zero emission trucks India

The Other initiative is Overhead Automated Charging Devices which helps to reduce the downtime for electric trucks making them viable for longer operations. This also helps in improving fuel efficiency and lowering operational costs. So electricity will be cheaper compared to diesel in the long run. These innovations

help electric commercial vehicles in India align with the government’s sustainability goals 

Impact On The Existing Trucks. 

Many Indian cities like Delhi have already banned diesel trucks that are more than 15 years old because they are high in emissions. So when these zero-emission trucks gain Momentum similar kinds of regulation can be implemented in other states of India. 

One possible solution for the owners to tackle the new technology is to do retrofitting where they can convert their existing diesel vehicles to electric or hydrogen vehicles. However, this retro-fitting comes with high costs and the government hasn’t rolled out any initiative for incentive schemes for retro-fitting. 

While talking about the price the adoption of zero-emission trucking will likely increase the initial cost of trucks because the price of batteries, advanced charging technologies, and fuel cell systems comes at a very high cost. This will be a potential barrier to transition. To solve the problem Government has initiated a few incentive programs like FAME which helps in the faster adoption of alternative energy source vehicles. 

Ashok Leyland – No Emission Truck 

Cost of EV Trucks India 

Boss 1218 HB EV: 25 Lakhs to 27 Lakhs

Ashok Leyland’s electric Bada Dost (IEV4) mini-truck: 9 Lakh to 11 Lakh

Tata Ace EV 1000 : Rs 11.27 lakh to Rs 11.40 lakh

Tata ULTRA T.7 Electric Truck: ₹ 15.29 – ₹ 16.81 Lakh*

Volvo FE Electric: Not Launched in India Yet

While talking about the future within a few years zero-emission trucks will gain momentum and will rule the transportation industry. To achieve that new policies rolled out by the government would help government need to reduce the registration fees and road taxes for these trucks, which will increase the owners to invest more in alternative source vehicles. 

Conclusion 

The zero emission truck led by the innovations from IIT Madras will revolutionize the India’s transportation and commercial vehicle sector. For truck owners and fleet operators, the upcoming years will require careful planning to navigate these innovative changes. The diesel trucks will not disappear overnight but strict

government norms and rising fuel costs will eventually push them towards the electric and hydrogen-powered alternative vehicles, so owners need to start planning.

Learn More Automated Charging Devices (ACD) Here 

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