India, the largest automobile market globally, has now been changed to the era of electric vehicles. Indian and international companies made hard efforts to grow the automobile market of the country. There are many Indian brands and few International brands which launched in India and later packed their bags. The Eddy Electric Series’ Lovebird electric car is one among them.
The vehicle was launched in 1993, and it was showcased at the Delhi Auto Expo. Following this, the government had permitted the sales, but the company shut down its operations in India due to the low sales. The car was manufactured by Eddy Current Controls (India) Ltd in collaboration with Yaskawa Electric Mfg. Co. from Tokyo, Japan.
In India, the cars were manufactured at Chalakudy in Kerala and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. The car had a direct current electric motor with a rechargeable portable battery. A lead-acid battery pack was used as battery packs were not advanced then. The car also had a smooth speed control system due to the electronic chopper included in it.
The car had a transmission with four-speed and a reverse gear. The manufacturers were targeting then city travellers so that the car had a distance range of 60km. The car took 8 hours to charge completely, and then there was no fast charging system. The car could not climb steep inclines if needed due to its grade limit of 15 degrees. Earlier, there were no charging systems available everywhere, and the government also stopped the subsidy in buying the electric cars then, which made a complete shut down to the company. The arrival of the Maruti Suzuki 800 era also put an end to the sales of Loutvebird then. But now many companies such Tata, MG and Hyundai have entered to electric vehicles market in the country and there are more to come in the coming years. The government has also started to provide subsidy for electric cars in the country, favouring more people to look on to electric cars.
