Saar: A total of 50 test mules will start plying on the roads across the country.

It isn’t a secret that Maruti Suzuki is working on launching its first pure electric vehicle (EV) in India in 2020. The Swift-maker is carrying out this and several other projects revolving around EVs with its Japanese counterpart Toyota. But before the first-ever EV to wear the Suzuki logo goes on sale in India, it has to be thoroughly tested in varied conditions such as extreme temperatures on either side of the thermometer and different terrains. That testing, as Suzuki’s head honcho, Osamu Suzuki, has revealed, will begin from next month. India’s largest carmaker will roll out 50 test mules in, what we are hoping, different parts of the country.

In June this year, a report read that Maruti Suzuki’s first EV will be a WagonR. We had our doubts, mostly based on technicalities. But most of the stories since then have more-or-less confirmed that the first EV in question will be the tallboy cabby favourite. But for it to succeed in capturing the imagination of the masses in India, Suzuki has called for a proactive approach from the government to build widespread charging infrastructure. It is simple – an EV without a supporting infrastructure will be an unmitigated failure, even before launch.

Picture Courtesy: GaadiWaadi

Apart from pure electric vehicles, the Toyota-Suzuki alliance is also likely to explore the possibility of making hybrids for the masses. If developed, the technology will be shared between the two carmakers. It is worth noting that the duo has already agreed upon sharing the platforms for Baleno, Vitara Brezza and Corolla. Could hybrids be built on any of those platforms? Or on all three? That depends on how scalable their skeletons are.

In the 2020-21 fiscal year, Maruti Suzuki is aiming to retail up to 35,000 e-cars. For those kinds of numbers, the need for necessary infrastructure is a must. However, Maruti Suzuki won’t be limiting its concentration in the EV space. In May this year, R C Bhargava, chairman, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., said that the company would push all technologies which are kinder to the environment. With the government now targeting to open more CNG stations across the country and to urge carmakers to launch more CNG-fed models, expect Maruti Suzuki to add such variants in more of its products shortly.