In order to enable quicker adoption of electric vehicles, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) will allow electric two- and three-wheelers to be sold without batteries, and registered based on the type approval certificate issued by the Testing agency. As the battery pack accounts for a large part of an EV’s cost, this should help lower the upfront cost and make them more affordable.
Furthermore, there will be no need to specify the make/type or any other details of the battery for the purpose of vehicle registration. This effectively means that manufacturers can look at introducing a battery swap model.
MoRTH states that the delinking of the cost of the battery (which accounts for 30-40 percent of the total cost) from the overall price was brought to its notice. As part of its endeavour to support such a move, the ministry’s attention was also draw to Form 22 (road worthiness certificate issued by OEM) and Form 22-A (road worthiness certification issued for vehicles where fabrication of the body is done separately), both of which are required for the registration of motor vehicles under Rule 47.
Rishaad Mody
Azaman Chothia
Vishal Venugopal
