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Ashok Leyland Takes Major Step Toward EV Leadership
Aditya Kondejkar Ashok Leyland’s move to develop and assemble its own battery packs marks one of its most strategically significant announcements in recent years. As India transitions toward a cleaner, multi-fuel commercial mobility ecosystem, this decision places the company at the center of the country’s electric commercial vehicle (ECV) transformation. The implications extend across technology, cost structure, competitive positioning, and long-term industry dominance.
At the core, battery packs account for 35–45% of an electric vehicle’s total cost, making them the single most influential factor in pricing and margins. By internalizing battery pack development, Ashok Leyland is aiming to break its dependence on third-party suppliers, reduce bill-of-materials cost, and secure tighter control over the EV value chain. This is crucial as global cell prices fluctuate and supply chains remain vulnerable to geopolitical shifts. In-house pack assembly gives the company cost stability, greater design flexibility, and freedom to optimize packs specifically for Indian duty cycles—ranging from stop-and-go urban e-buses to long-haul e-LCVs and future heavy-duty platforms.
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Hybrids May Use 300% More Fuel Than Thought
Guy Youngs Study shows PHEVs exceed government estimates. There have been several studies that suggest that hybrid electric vehicles (also called PHEVs) are simply not the great environment saver that the marketing people are suggesting. A new study by the Fraunhofer Institute shows that on average, PHEVs use more than three times as much fuel as government estimates suggest.
The study is highly credible as it was based around on-board fuel consumption monitoring data from a massive 981,035 vehicles across Europe.
A gap of over 300% is severe and makes it hard for the EU to regulate something when the estimated numbers are so wildly different from reality. The EU is aware of this problem, and is taking some measures to fix it
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First Country To Ban Sale of Gas Cars Doing Fine
In 2024, Ethiopia made history by becoming the first country in the world to ban the sale and import of new internal combustion-powered vehicles. The decision was based on several factors, but, surprisingly, environmental reasons were quite low on the list.
The major reason for this seemingly bizarre action was economics. As a poor country with no oil reserves, Ethiopia was importing US$ 4 billion of refined fuel every year – US$ 4 billion may not seem like a big number, but to a country whose total budget is only US$ 14 billion, it’s massive.
The second major reason behind the decision was the completion of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) which brings in massive amounts of energy to this energy poor country (it doubled the country’s generating capacity).
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Tesla Committing Automotive Suicide
Guy Youngs Following its Q4 2025 financial update, Tesla appears to be pivotally shifting away from its identity as a traditional automaker. By phasing out the Model S and X to focus on ‘Transportation as a Service,’ leadership is betting heavily on an autonomous-first business model.
And instead of building on that success, expanding into new segments, addressing affordability, and competing with the flood of new EVs from legacy automakers and Chinese competitors, the company that revolutionized the auto industry is walking away from it.
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