India's first solar-powered electric vehicle could cut your daily transportation costs by one-third!

Let's face it; as cool as owning a big car is, we don't all really need one. And if you've lived in a large city like Bengaluru where riding to work at peak-traffic hours means a tremendous assault on your eyes, ears, nose and pores, you know that the city could really use a little less bulky SUV's cramming up every traffic junction.

In that regard, a Pune startup called Vayve Mobility is on the cusp of introducing something to the market that might help with both faffling traffic, while potentially saving users more than a quick buck on their daily commutes.

Their solar-powered electric car Eva was introduced to the Indian audience at the 16th edition of Uttar Pradesh's Greater Noida Auto Expo. While looking like a cross between a Tata Nano and something you would see in Tron, it certainly strives to push the definition of what a car looks like.

This two-seater car has a very narrow body, about 3 metres long and 1.1 metres wide — only about half the width of a regular car. Furthermore, the company boasts that the EV is peppy, able to whizz 0-40 kmph in just five seconds, with a maximum speed of 70 kmph.

However, one of the biggest concerns Indians have when attempting to transition to an electric car is the range. This is where Eva's solar capabilities shine.

While the car tests a range of 250 kilometres on a single charge (which takes about four hours to charge fully), it also boasts 150-watt solar panels on its roof that hands it about 10-12 extra kilometres per day, or about 3,000 kilometres a year.

"An Indian customer's personal vehicle travels 30 km a day on an average. So, even if you're getting 10 km per day from solar, then that's 30 per cent of your commute just from solar," says Nilesh Bajaj, Chief Executive Officer of Vayve.

For average college- or work-goers, this does seem to hit the sweet spot. However, most recent electric vehicles that have become popular in India, such as Tata's Tiago and Tigor models, have at least 300 kilometres on a single charge — almost 50 kilometres more than the Eva. However, as discussed, they are much more bulkier as well, often unnecessarily so, since most car drivers rarely have more than two passengers.

Still, there are many challenges that the Eva needs to overcome — such as the availability of appropriate charging points, the price segment, Indian's attitudes towards electric vehicles, and even the fact that, visually, it looks unlike what you see on any Indian road, becoming a social roadblock to many opting in.

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