How Automobile Companies are Spearheading the E-revolution Companies across the world are stepping up their efforts to tackle the growing pollution crisis by creating electric vehicles
By Nidhi Singh
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The rising air pollution levels have raised health and environment concerns across the world. Many metro cities are living with deteriorating air quality and smog. Debates and concerns over air quality levels even shaped the agenda at the recently concluded World Economic Forum 2019 in Davos, Switzerland.
At a plenary session on "Safeguarding our Planet", Mahindra Group chair Anand Mahindra shared that India is one of the few countries that is moving on track to meet the Paris commitments on fighting climate change. "They know it is their home and not a hotel and no one will be able to check out from here," he said. Not only Indian leaders but global giants are stepping their efforts to tackle the growing crisis by transitioning to electric vehicles.
With pollution problems rising with each passing day, let's take a look at the companies foraying into electric mobility.
Porche
Automaker Porche's electric dream is fast becoming a reality with its all electric Mission E concept. The Mission E is the internal designation for an all-electric four-door coupe from Porsche, which was unveiled as a concept car at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show.
Last year at Porsche's "70 years of sports cars" ceremony, it was announced that the Mission E's production car name would be Porsche Taycan, roughly translated from Turkish as "lively young horse", in reference to the steed of the Stuttgart coat of arms on the Porsche crest. Taycan is also Porche's first all-electric car.
Lamborghini
In 2018, Italian auto manufacturer Lamborghini signed a partnership with Ital technology to produce the first range of electric bikes bearing the Lamborghini name at its museum in Sant'Agata Bolognese. The e-bikes by the Italian auto component firm Italtechnology are the result of over five years' research and feature technological innovation, cutting-edge design, and four international patents. The first two versions of pedal assist bikes bearing the brand name are available online and through selected specialized retailers worldwide.
Toyota
To facilitate the creation of new mobility services, Japanese auto major Toyota and SoftBank formed a joint venture company called MONET Technologies Corporation. By the second half of the 2020s, the company plans to roll out Autono-MaaS (autonomous mobility as a service) businesses using e-Palette, Toyota's dedicated battery electric vehicle for mobility services that can be used for various purposes, including mobility, logistics, and sales.
Didi Chuxing
The EV battle has begun and now the Chinese ride-hailing app Didi Chuxing has joined the revolution. The transportation platform recently announced a new joint venture with Beijing Electric Vehicle Co., a unit of state-owned BAIC. The joint venture, called Jingju, aims to combine their strengths in new energy fleet operation and AI transportation solutions to develop next-generation connected-car systems. Today, close to 400,000 new energy vehicles are registered with Didi in the world's largest shared EV network, many through the company's partnerships with leading EV manufacturers, including BYD.
