Why India needs economical and green two seater cars

Office hour traffic in India

How often is this nazara real – office hour, four doors and one person? This and innumerable motorcycles make up the city roads traffic scene in our country, apart from buses. This division between the two is primarily because of fuel economy – 15:60. This predominates the upfront cost difference too. The need of the hour is something in between a car and a two wheeler; in terms of fuel economy, cost and size. Two seater cars have never worked in India, but there seems to be a case for this now; more so because the population of both human beings and automobiles is rapidly increasing. Infrastructure issues are plaguing the country. Urban Indian life demands the need of a single person vehicle that protects one from the pollution, harsh weather conditions or simply from overcrowded uncomfortable public transportation.

Toyota iQ - a two seater compact car

A compact two seater the size of the Toyota iQ or the Smart Fortwo would be ideal for India. Parking woes have become a daily routine in urban places and are ever increasing. Worldwide, compact two seater cars in the affordable segment have worked in select places like a few European nations. But these cars are not really cheap there. Why are they expensive? Simply because they were never made for the Indian market. What needs to be done here is frugal Indian engineering. Something around 3 metre length, a fuel efficiency of at least 30 kmpl, 2 seats with a little shopping bag storage area, and basic modern amenities like air conditioning and power steering cannot be missed. In short, it has to be a proper car because ours is a country that sees cars as status symbols.  Such cars can be electric as this will be the everyday office car and so range wouldn’t be much of an issue. The Mahindra Reva e2o did make a good case but it still is expensive. It makes sense for it to be an hybrid at least as most of the commute in this would be done in stop and go traffic. Hybrids and electrics with regenerate braking capture the lost power during braking and slowing down. An automatic transmission is a highly necessary option for our busy roads, and it is very much preferred by women – a big potential market for a car like this. 

Renault Twizy - an urban electric vehicle

An interesting alternative to self transportation is the Renault Twizy. It is a two seater electric vehicle, has 4 wheels and a steering, but is neither a car nor a motorcycle. It has an average range of 100km per charge. There are a few models, base model starting at GB£6,990 and top speed of 45 – 80 kmph depending on model. This right now is an expensive proposition for India, but this green transportation concept is interesting for our roads. 

In Japan, such vehicles are categorized as ‘Kei car’ and in Europe and other places as ‘Quadricycles’. The Indian Govt. has recently announced that Quadricycles will be categorized here. The Bajaj RE 60, an improved 4 wheeled auto rickshaw could be the first to enter this space. The petroleum powered four door car has been in the world for more than a century now, it is definitely time for a change.