The availability of fossil fuels is limited, and their use is destroying our planet. Toxic emissions from petrol and diesel vehicles lead to long-term, adverse effects on public health. The emissions impact of electric vehicles is much lower than petrol or diesel vehicles.
From an efficiency perspective, electric vehicles (EV) can convert around 60 per cent of the electrical energy from the grid to power the wheels, but petrol or diesel cars can only convert 17 to 21 per cent of the energy stored in the fuel to the wheels. That is a waste of around 80 per cent. Fully electric vehicles have zero tailpipe emissions, but even when electricity production is taken into account, petrol or diesel vehicles emit almost three times more carbon dioxide than the average EV.
To reduce the impact of charging electric vehicles, India is ambitious to achieve about 40 per cent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by the year 2030, the year by which India has committed during COP26 in Glasgow to cut its emissions by half. Electric vehicles appear to be the way forward for Indian transport and governments, both at the federal and sub-regional levels, have been making spirited efforts to transition to electric vehicles in a mission mode.
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3W EV HIGHEST IN INDIA
Currently, a total of 13,92,265 electric vehicles are being used on the roads of India (as on August 3, 2022), as per data available with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. The highest number of electric vehicles in India is three-wheeler which stands at 7,93,370, while the total number of two-wheeler stands at 5,44,643 and the number of four-wheeler and above stands at 54,252. Further, the sale of EVs in FY 2021-22 has gone up over three times as compared to the sale of EVs in FY 2020-21 at 1,34,460, with the Government having taken a number of steps to boost the adoption of electric vehicles in the country.
On May 12, 2021, the Government approved the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for manufacturing of Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) in the country in order to bring down prices of battery. The drop in battery prices will result in cost reduction of electric vehicles. Electric Vehicles are eligible for incentives under PLI scheme for automobile and auto components.
Taxes on electric vehicles have also been reduced from 12 per cent to 5 per cent; the tax on chargers/ charging stations for electric vehicles has been reduced from 18 per cent to 5 per cent. The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) announced that battery-operated vehicles will be given green licence plates and be exempted from permit requirements with a notification advising states to waive road tax on EVs, which in turn will help reduce the initial cost of EVs.
RISING BATTERY DEMAND
A recent study by Arthur D Little titled Unlocking India’s electric mobility potential, estimates that more than 30 per cent of vehicles in India will be electric by 2030 with EV industry crossing 10 million vehicles by 2030 with an adoption rate of 30 per cent across categories. The study further reveals that India will need approximately 800 GWh of batteries by 2030 to be able to secure 30 per cent EV adoption rate. For this, the country is accelerating the plans to manufacture lithium ion cells, anticipating 2.3 billion in Government subsidies and investment potential of more than 7.5 billion.
India has had its share of challenges in infrastructure issues, including charging facilities and despite that it is one of the largest EV markets in Asia, second only to China and is surprisingly ahead of Japan.
Transport is a fundamental requirement of modern life, but the traditional combustion engine is quickly becoming outdated. Petrol or diesel vehicles are highly polluting and are being quickly replaced by fully electric vehicles. EVs have zero tailpipe emissions and are much better for the environment. The electric vehicle revolution is around in the region and India is leading this from the front.
