Is India ready for Electric Vehicles?

What are Electric Vehicles?

Electric vehicles, in contrast to conventional petrol and diesel vehicles, use one or extra electric powered motors for propulsion. Electric vehicles have a battery that is charged through an electricity supply.  An electric vehicle may be powered through a collector system by electricity from off-vehicle sources, or may be self-contained with a battery, solar panels or an electric generator to convert fuel to electricity. There are many types of electric vehicles such as electric cars, electric trucks, electric buses, electric bikes, electric trains, electric scooters etc. Manufacturing and putting the electric cars on street is the vision to make India pollution free along with saving the precious petroleum.

Tesla, BMW, Nissan, Chevrolet, Ford, Volkswagen, Kia are the 7 leading manufacturer of Electric Vehicles.

Benefits of Electric Vehicles:

Cost Effective:

Electric car battery prices have dropped 50 percent in the last three years, according to 2018 research by fund management company, Global X. Government is incentivizing the use of Electric Vehicles by providing subsidies and lower motor taxes on EVs.

Environment Friendly:

Electric Vehicles are 100 percent eco-friendly. They do not produce harmful smoke or toxic gases in the environment which leads to global warming and helps to reduce pollution. 

Reduction in Noise pollution:

Electric vehicles are quieter to operate than gasoline-powered vehicles, leading to reduction in noise pollution.

Yes, India is ready:-

• India has been assembling and successfully utilizing Electric Locomotives that pull train mentors with huge amounts of load. This has spared traditional fuel like coal, diesel  but has also saved the environment from getting polluted further. Accordingly, assembling and utilizing the electric vehicles is certainly not a major obstacle.
• On 31 March 2017, government announced that the entire rail network in the country will be electrified by 2022. Indian Railways has successfully tested solar-panel mounted trains. Power generated from these solar panels will be used for the lights and fans inside the train.
• People living in some of the Indian cities are being affected by noise pollution. Some of the Indian cities have the worst noise pollution levels in the world. Electric vehicles may contribute to a reduction in noise pollution levels in the cities.
• The total number of vehicles registered in India has been 5.4 million, 11 million, 33 million, 40 million and 210 million in the years 1981, 1986, 1996, 2000 and 2015. This indicates a 3500+ percentage growth in the total number of vehicles between 1981 and 2015. The total number of vehicles sold in India increased between 1,54,81,381 in 2010-11 and 2,04,69,385 in 2015-16 indicating a 30+ percentage growth in this five year period. Air in many cities of India is no longer healthy. Electric vehicles may contribute to reduction in air pollution levels in the cities.
• India can save 64% of anticipated passenger road-based mobility-related energy demand and 37% of carbon emissions in 2030 by pursuing a shared, electric, and connected mobility future.
• This would result in a reduction of 156 mega toe in diesel and petrol consumption for that year. At USD 52/bbl of crude, this would imply a net savings of roughly Rs 3.9 lakh crore (approximately 60 billion USD) in 2030. These figures clearly indicate an urgent requirement for replacement of conventional vehicles with electric vehicles.
• While prominent manufacturers such as Maruti Suzuki India, Hero Electric Vehicles, Mahindra and Mahindra are already registered electric manufacturers in India, latest collaborations such as Suzuki and Toyota, are planning to launch electric vehicles in India.
• On the same lines India’s first EV manufacturer Mahindra and Mahindra has forged a partnership with Ford to develop electric mobility solutions that are affordable for the Indian consumers.
• Among the world’s 20 most polluted cities in the world, 13 are in India. Vehicular pollution is one of the major contributors to air pollution. India is in the group of countries that has the highest particulate matter (PM) levels. Its cities have the highest levels of PM10 and PM2.5 (particles with diameter of 10 microns and 2.5 microns). These figures are six times more than the WHO “safe” limit of 25 micrograms and represent the exigency for Electrical Vehicles.
• As a signatory to the Paris climate agreement, India is obligated to bring down its share of global emissions by 2030. Thus the government of India is making key initiatives such as launch of National E-Mobility Programme, planning guidelines to encourage the use of such vehicles by NITI Aayog etc. to promote EVs in India.

No, India is not ready:-

• More Indians prefer petrol, diesel or gas driven cars. They do not seem to be ready to buy and use the electric cars due to their slow pick up, slow speed and non-availability of electric charging centres in the vicinity of their area.
• Just after nine months of the launch of Ola’s ambitious Electric Vehicle project in Nagpur, it faced major roadblock with Ola drivers wanting to return their electric cars and switch back to petrol or diesel variants. The reason being high operating expenses and long wait times at charging stations.
• India lacks significant infrastructure and necessary technology to support Electric Vehicle manufacturing. Efficient components such as high-density batteries remain a key challenge.
• Charging stations is another challenge for Electric vehicles. Charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in India has not been fully developed yet. 
• The cost of EV’s are very high mainly due to the cost of Li-ion cells. The battery packs are imported and cost a lot, about $275/KWh in India. Most EV’s in India provide a range of 110 km and cost between Rs 6-8 lakhs which doesn't give any cost advantage compared to higher range cars in the same price range.
• If we are bring electric vehicle in india, then the electricity demand will go up a lot. Increase in electricity requirement would put extra load on government. In india electricity problem is very big. lack of electricity public will face many problem.

The government of India is dedicated towards adoption of Electric Vehicles for a cleaner and greener environment. Robust supporting infrastructure with lower tax on EVs could help to achieve the dream faster.

1. India's first electric bus was launched in Bangalore in 2014.
2. Ashok Leyland launched its electric bus in October 2016.
3. Tata Motors launched its pure electric bus ‘Starbus Electric 9m’ and hybrid ‘StarBus Electric 12m’ in January 2017.

Government of India initiatives:

• The Government started Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric vehicles (FAME) scheme which provides incentives for purchasing electric vehicles. Government is releasing tenders to increase charging infrastructure in the country.
• The vehicle is covered under Government of India's FAME-India (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles) scheme that offers incentives to the electric and hybrid vehicles ranging from Rs.1,800 to Rs.29,000 for scooters and motorcycles and Rs.1.38 Lac for cars. FAME is a part of National Electric Mobility Mission Plan by Government of India.
• The Government is mainly focusing to electrify public transportation as the subsidies, mainly available for two-wheelers, three-wheelers, and buses. This policy also earmarks $140 million to develop charging infrastructure which should further help the development of the EV industry in India. On 14 December 2018, the government also released a document which outlines the standard and guidelines for EV Charging infrastructure. Beyond the specifications of the charging infrastructure, the guidelines also required a charging station to be present every 25 km along a road/highway.
• The Delhi Government recently approved 1000 Electric buses to be used in Delhi’s public transport system.
• In 2018, the Uttrakhand Government introduced a new scheme to help the manufacturing and promote the use of EV’s as well. The scheme would provide companies with loans ranging between Rs 10 crore and Rs 50 crore to build EV's and charging infrastructure.
• A Motor Vehicles Bill was passed by the Parliament in 2015, which established battery-powered e-rickshaws as a valid form of commercial transport in India. With their small size and small turning radius, E-rickshaw is already a popular mode of transport in Delhi-NCR, particularly in small lanes and congested areas.

ISRO has tested a solar-powered hybrid car - a modified Maruti Omni with a solar panel platform installed on top of the car. The installation of this solar platform on the car has been rated "awful" for its design.

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