This Is India’s First Electric Car & It Was Called “Lovebird”
Electric vehicles or cars are gaining popularity in India. We now have several Indian and international brands offering EVs in different shapes and sizes. While we like to believe that Mahindra and Tata were the first to launch a made-in-India EV, that is actually not true. In Indian automobile history, it was common to find local manufacturers trying to do something extraordinary and come up with good value-for-money products for customers. During such an era, a manufacturer decided to launch an electric car and call it the Lovebird.
The Lovebird was manufactured by the Eddy Electric series in 1993. It was first showcased at the Auto Expo in Delhi and even received a couple of awards after its launch. The Indian government supported this project and gave it the green signal. However, due to very low sales volumes, the manufacturer was eventually forced to stop production.
The company behind the Lovebird was Eddy Current Controls (India), which collaborated with Yaskawa Electric Mfg. Co. from Tokyo, Japan, to build the electric car. They built this car at a time when EVs were not a common thing. In fact, it wouldn’t be wrong to call the Lovebird an EV that was way ahead of its time.
Production for the Lovebird took place in Chalakudy, Kerala, and Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. The Lovebird was a two-seater car powered by a direct current electric motor and a rechargeable portable battery. Since battery technology at the time was not very advanced, the car used a lead-acid battery pack. The exact number of cells used or the power output of the motor is not known. The Lovebird also featured an electronic chopper that enabled smooth speed control for the driver.
It came with a four-speed transmission and a reverse gear, offering efficiency comparable to other cars of its time. On a full charge, the Lovebird could travel up to 60 km. The car targeted urban consumers and people living in smaller cities.
Fast-charging technology did not exist back then, and it took around eight hours to fully charge the battery. The car was also restricted to gradients below 15 degrees, meaning it couldn’t legally climb steep inclines for safety reasons. However, this wasn’t a major concern at the time, as not many cities had flyovers.
The sales numbers of the Lovebird didn’t even touch three digits. Despite using the best available technology, electric cars were far from being accepted like petrol-, diesel-, or CNG-powered vehicles in the Indian market. In India, frequent power failures and an unreliable electricity supply were common and contributed to its poor sales. Moreover, when the government withdrew subsidies for electric car purchases, the Lovebird became even more expensive.
Not Just Eddy Current Controls, other manufacturers such as Sipani, Kazah, Aravind, and Meera were also present in the Indian automobile market at the time. However, the arrival of the Maruti Suzuki 800 completely transformed the industry and shifted consumer preferences entirely.