Prince William is to name Mahindra as the first finalist for his Earthshot Prize, recognising the Indian manufacturer’s electric tuk-tuks as a practical solution to urban pollution.
Mahindra, which makes electric autorickshaws, is among 15 finalists in this year’s competition. The remaining finalists are due to be announced next Friday, while the five winners will be revealed in Mumbai in November.
Each winner will receive £1 million. The Earthshot Prize aims to “find, celebrate and scale solutions to repair the planet”.
Tuk-tuks are widely used across Asia, with an estimated 10 million on India’s roads. Their low running costs and ability to move through congested streets have made them a common form of transport, but conventional models contribute to poor air quality in densely populated areas.
Electric versions use a battery beneath the seat and are rapidly gaining ground in India. Some 68 per cent of new three-wheelers sold in the country are now electric.
William said Mahindra was “a great example of what the Earthshot Prize is all about, a practical solution that is already working at scale and changing the way people move around their cities”.
“Seeing solutions like this growing in India gives me real optimism,” he added.
Mahindra has put 400,000 electric vehicles on Indian roads and is targeting one million by 2031. It has also exported electric vehicles to Sri Lanka, Nepal and the Philippines, with plans to expand into Indonesia, Brazil and Africa.
Suman Mishra, chief executive of Mahindra Last Mile Mobility, said: “You don’t have to have a very expensive, sophisticated solution to push sustainability. When the right choice for the climate is also the right economic choice for the customer then scale is inevitable.”
The company says its electric autorickshaws have already prevented 180,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, which it equates to planting 8.3 million trees.
Economist and energy expert Kaushik Deb has said that millions of tuk-tuk drivers switching to electric vehicles could trigger a global fall in demand for petrol.
The Earthshot Prize initially focused on start-ups and charities, but Mahindra was founded in 1945 and is ranked as the 15th most valuable vehicle maker in the world, with a value of about £29 billion.
Jason Knauf, the organisation’s chief executive, praised major companies such as Mahindra as essential to advancing environmental progress, saying India was at the forefront of efforts to tackle climate change.
