Electric Vehicles in India: Unveiling the New Trend-Setter
Electric Vehicles market in India is growing rapidly. Perhaps, not only the renowned brands but also the growth of EV startups is also showing that India is all well to set a new trend across the automotive and automobile industry. To not known, electric vehicles run on an electric motor which is 100 percent eco-friendly when compared to internal-combustion engines which generate power by burning a mix of fuel and gases. In order to control rising pollution, global warming, depleting natural resources, etc. Electric Vehicles has been kept on top focus by the Indian government. Electric vehicles have two types: first one is BEVs (battery electric vehicles), which rely on batteries and the second type is known as Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs), which can be operated by both petrol and electricity. The amount of driving that can be done in ‘electric’ mode depends on the capacity of the battery. The advantage of PHEVs over BEVs (battery electric vehicles) is that if you can’t get to a charging point, you can keep driving using fuel alone.
Recently, the tech-magnate, Elon Musk has announced its brand Tesla’s entry into the India market. The brand has already earned its name through various markets, like, China, South Korea, the UK, the Netherlands, and Norway and now it has reached one of the world’s top five auto markets, India. Although, there were lots of controversies about Tesla’s business in India because it considered being the most expensive brand in the world. For clearing out this issue, a news website quoted the brand, which says, “At the moment, due to the high tariffs in India, Tesla cars will be expensive. However, if the company has its own production, it will reduce the cost of cars to an acceptable level, which will make them more affordable. Thus, at some point, Tesla cars may become affordable for the middle class as well.”
The next project is from electric car maker Triton, which has announced a deal with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) to make batteries. With the partnership of BEL, Triton is planning to start manufacturing its first vehicle in 3-6 months from now and aims to roll out the first car by the end of this year.
Indian Government Initiatives
While focusing on electric vehicles, the Indian government has announced an agenda to convert all normal vehicles into electric vehicles by 2030. Emphasizing on the same scenario and talking to BISinfotech, Sameer Mahapatra, VP and Country Sales Head-India & SAARC- Aeris Communications says, “The two and three-wheelers in this electric vehicle space is already been observed and the government’s ambition of 30% EV adoption by 2030 will be led by these two segments.”
The Delhi government has recently announced ‘Switch Delhi’ campaign and requested Delhiites to promote electric vehicles and make Delhi pollution-free city. While promoting the campaign, CM Delhi urged delivery chains and big companies, resident welfare associations, market associations, malls and cinema halls to promote electric vehicles and set up charging stations at their premises. Kejriwal also announced that the state government will switch its fleet of hired cars to electric within the next six month.
Not only that, but the Delhi government has also initiated a project of 100 vehicle battery charging points across the national capital.
Power Minister of Delhi Satyendar Jain said, “500 charging points will be installed in 100 charging stations. Many of these sites are at DMRC metro stations followed by DTC depots. The charging of 20 per cent slow and 10 per cent fast will be mandated at these charging stations to cater to all kinds of EVs. Also the swapping of stations will be allowed.”
Last year, the Indian government had announced the registration of electric vehicles without pre-fitted batteries. The reason of this announcement was to make the upfront cost of the electrical 2 wheeler (2W) and 3 wheelers (3W) to be lower than ICE 2 and 3W. The battery could be provided separately by the OEM or the energy service provider. This announcement has opened the door for big business and opportunities.
The 40% of the costs of EVs are of their batteries. This initiative by Indian government will result in a rapid decrease in the costing of EVs in India and in turn the companies can focus on developing new cost efficient models, says Deepak MV, CEO & Co-founder, Etrio.
EV Batteries
Deepak MV, shared that the EV battery market is also at an important stage where a change in EV policies will work as a catalyst in sales. It is estimated that if the policies are encouraged in nature then the worth of the EV battery market would be something around 300 billion dollars by 2030 in India.
India Electric Vehicle Battery Market is estimated to touch USD 963 million by the end of 2026, growing at a CAGR of 25.3% during 2019-2026, says the report by GMI Research. Ratul Borah, Founder & CEO-Elecnovo mentioned that the reliable and cost-effective batteries are important for success of electric vehicles in India.
India needs to support the investment in battery assembly and manufacturing and disincentives importing battery packs, mentioned Swapnil Jain, Co-Founder and CTO- Ather Energy. He also said, Fiscal support for the R&D and commercial production of batteries and research into cell technology will help pave the way for an indigenous industry. Batteries have a limited life for electric vehicles. In their second life, these still have multiple uses like energy storage. Ather works with its partners to run pilots on projects that would give a new lease of life to batteries.
Future of EV in India
As the Indian government is aggressively focusing on the EV market, we can expect the acceptance of electric vehicles in future. The collaboration between market leaders is going to play a major role. The adoption of EV will gradually take time, but it will definitely require safer battery technology and greater reliability, which will increase confidence of society and public safety officials and will also accelerate the EV business in India.
