Third tech trial run held to upgrade 5 highways in TN to e-highways

CHENNAI: The National Highways for Electric Vehicles (NHEV), under its Ease of Doing Business programme, began the third tech trial run of EVs for upgrading five of TN’s highways into e-highways.

Held on the occasion of World EV Day, the trial covers a 332-km stretch from Chennai to Tiruchy including electric, hydrogen, and zero-emission freight vehicles for the first time, in addition to electric SUVs and buses tested in previous trials.

Abhijit Sinha, programme director at NHEV, said: “This focuses on 5 key routes: Tiruchy to Chennai, Tiruchy to Madurai, Coimbatore to Ulundurpet, Kishnagiri to Madurai, and Madurai to Kanniyakumari. Data from a tech trial between Chennai and another location will be used to determine optimal locations for charging stations, their required frequency, associated costs, and the overall investment needed to upgrade these highways into e-highways.”

The project aims to reduce logistics costs in India from 14% to 9%. Trucking significantly contributes to these costs, and the State’s progress in cutting expenses could serve as a model for other states. “The focus will be on decarbonising the trucking industry and transitioning to zero-emission trucking,” he added. “Tamil Nadu has been chosen after a very extensive exercise to understand what it brings to the table. It’s poised to become a one-trillion-dollar economy, and has an important place in the Indian logistics sector. TN is a hub for automobiles, logistics, and trucking in the south. It sends and receives huge amounts of goods, and also has a large number of industries, component partners, steel and cement manufacturers, and many other manufacturing units.”

The NHEV is a pilot for electric mobility and adoption towards net zero. This brings a third trial after it was held in Delhi, Jaipur, and Agra.