Electric Cars Future - India as a Case Study

 Anticipation

The coming decade is expected to be the decade of the fully electric car. With battery prices reportedly falling 73% since 2010, electric cars are expected to be as cheap as fuel-powered cars in the foreseeable future. The International Energy Agency cites that by 2020 up to 20 million electric vehicles will ply the road, a number that is expected to go up to 70 million by 2025. Countries around the world are waking up to the potential of e-mobility. While China is incentivizing e-mobility with tax breaks, EV credit policies, research subsidies, and more, countries like the UK, France, Norway, and India are looking to adopt e-mobility at a larger scale, having expressed the desire to phase out petrol and diesel engines entirely in the coming decades.

Here is an article about the future of electric cars in India.

India and Electric Vehicles

India has a lot to gain from the widespread adoption of e-mobility. Under the Make in India program, the manufacturing of e-vehicles and their associated components is expected to increase the share of manufacturing in India’s GDP to 25% by 2022. On the economic front, large-scale adoption of electric vehicles is projected to help save $60 billion on oil imports by 2030 - currently, 82% of India’s oil demand is fulfilled by imports. The price of electricity as fuel could fall as low as Rs 1.1/km, helping an electric vehicle owner save up to Rs. 20,000 for every 5,000km traversed. Finally, electrification will help reduce vehicular emissions, a key contributor to air pollution which causes an average 3% GDP loss every year.

Read this article to know more about electric vehicles.

Unsurprisingly, there has been a concerted policy push at the national level to promote e-mobility, especially with the ratification of the Paris climate agreement. The National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020 and Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme were both announced in aspiration of an electric-only future for automobiles by 2030. In addition, a lower GST rate (12%) has been levied on electric vehicles compared to other categories.

A holistic e-mobility ecosystem comprises electric vehicles, charging infrastructure, e-mobility service providers (car sharing, rentals, etc.) and regulations. Ride-sharing company Ola recently announced ‘Mission: Electric,’ under which it aims to put one million electric vehicles on the road by 2021. The draft National Auto Policy, released in February 2018, suggests friendly regulations and fiscal incentives to promote green mobility. It recommends defining a green mobility roadmap for India, which would include a national plan for the establishment of relevant public infrastructure.

The Indian’s Endeavors

India is making a big push for electric vehicles, signaling a turning point in its clean energy policy, writes energy writer Vandana Gombar. In 2017, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari shocked the automobile industry (and the world) when he announced that he intended for India to move to 100% electric cars by 2030. "I am going to do this, whether you like it or not. And I am not going to ask you. I will bulldoze it," he said at an industry conference. That was an ambitious target given that even the UK and France were hoping to phase out conventional combustion-engine cars only by 2040.

 

Mr. Gadkari and his Bhartiya Janata Party or BJP-led government eventually diluted their plans for electric passenger cars - from 100% the target is now down to 30%. India wants to become a "global hub of manufacturing of electric vehicles", Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her budget speech earlier this month. The Economic Survey, a government forecast, released a day before the budget envisaged an Indian city possibly emerging as the "Detroit of electric vehicles" in the future. But it will be a challenge to create a competitive advantage in electric vehicle manufacturing, or even a market for them, given that India does not have the infrastructure or deep pockets that the world's current leader in electric mobility, China, has.

To know the rebirth of electric vehicles, read this.

 

Currently, charging infrastructure for e-mobility is an area of concern; however, there have been some positive developments. Delhi recently legalized charging stations for e-rickshaws and hopes that with more incentives, civic agencies and private players would step forward. NTPC, India’s largest power generation utility, has already commissioned its first EV charging station - designed in-house with a capacity to charge three electric vehicles simultaneously - in Vishakhapatnam.

The most crucial aspect of the e-mobility ecosystem is, of course, the electric vehicle itself. In India, public transport is leading the way for mainstreaming of e-mobility. E-rickshaws are mushrooming as public transport in Indian cities due to the lower cost of operation and economic fares. Delhi alone is believed to have almost lakh e-rickshaws plying its roads, while Kolkata will see an upgrade from autos to e-rickshaws soon. The recent jump in electric vehicle sales also points to rising preference for personal electric vehicles.

The demand for electric vehicles is driven by hopes of fast-charging batteries with an extended driving range. For automotive players today, the core challenge is developing quality batteries that are long-lasting, safe, and can store a lot of energy. In the current ecosystem, lead-acid batteries and lithium-ion batteries have emerged as the most suitable options.

Written by - Mohammed Ghattas

Edited by - Sravanthi Cheerladinne