Is India ready for Electric car

In 2017, transport minister Mr Nitin Gadkari shocked the Indian automobile industry by announcing that he is intended for India to move to 100% electric cars by 2030. He was so forceful that his words read "I am going to do this, whether you like it or not. And I am not going to ask you. I will bulldoze it." Looking forward to this gigantic task, all automobile companies have started working on developing electric cars although the task of a complete shift from conventional petrol/diesel to Electric will be challenging not only for the car manufacturers but also for the government. The future of electric cars in India is in a good position if things are carried out with proper planning.

The challenges that we will be facing are-

Vehicle cost-

The average cost of a car in India is around 10000 USD (approx. 7 lakhs). This is where the challenge starts to rise. As everyone is aware electric cars are highly-priced compared to their petrol/diesel counterparts. So, if we consider the entry-level electric cars at present in India say for example Mahindra's E verito and Tata's Tigor EV which easily costs around 10 lakhs and 12.60 lakhs respectively. These cars do not offer any premium features and have a mere range of about 150 km on a single charge. Hyundai launched its first electric car in India named Kona which has a range of good 480 km. Kona being a segment above Tigor EV and E verito it is priced at rupees 25 lakhs onwards which is 3.5 times the average cost of a car in India. So, making the car affordable is a major task for all the manufacturers.

Range Anxiety-

Just like petrol/diesel cars needs to be refuelled electric cars need to be recharged. At present, there are no more than 150 charging stations in India. Electric car owners will have to charge their cars using own resources. Talking about the resources lets have a look at the present scenario of the lithium-ion reserves on earth.

Resources-

The lithium-ion used in the production of batteries on which electric cars run is not available in India. South American countries like Bolivia, Argentina, Chile have large reserves of lithium-ion. So just like India is dependent on gulf countries for petroleum resources, we will need to import lithium-ion from the South American countries. China our neighbour and the biggest competitor have ample resources of lithium-ion too. So, getting resources is a major task in front of our government.

Considering these major challenges, the aim of 100% electric by the year 2030 has been downsized to 30% for the time being. Government of India is trying their level best to help the industry to cope up with the challenges. The steps taken by the government are-

The Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) which is run by GOI has offered 1120 crores to Tata Motors and Mahindra group for the production of 10,000 electric cars. 350 electric cars from Tata Motors and 150 from Mahindra have been delivered in November 2018 and the rest 9500 cars are expected to be delivered in the upcoming years. The government wants to replace the majority of its gasoline-run cars by electric vehicles to create awareness among the people.

Government has also launched a scheme named FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric vehicle) under which new tenders for electric buses, E-rickshaws are going to be declared.Karnataka Government has acquired investments worth 31000 crores from private as well as public sector to develop proper infrastructure for electric vehicles in the state. This has led to 50000 jobs available in the state. Plans to develop charging stations at the airport, railway station, shopping mall, multiplexes and other public areas have been discussed.Central Government has launched a subsidy of around 1.4 lakhs on purchase of the electric vehicle to promote the purchase of electric vehicles in the country. NITI AAYOG has launched several programs under FAME scheme to promote electric cars-

1) It has kept a fixed percentage reserve for electric vehicles per year in India's top 10 polluted cities.

2) Public zones like shopping malls, multiplexes, residential complex, commercial complex, offices should have a 10% reserve place for electric cars along with charging booths.

3) It has made mandatory for multistorey apartments to have charging booths.

4) All government vehicles registered after January 2019 are expected to be electric.

In these ways, the government is aiming to phase out all petrol/diesel vehicles gradually and shifting towards electric.

Implementing these schemes and policies gradually yet effectively will help the nation to be 100% electric and pollution-free. All automobile companies have started developing electric cars and few of will be launching their products soon such as MG will be launching ZS Ev (priced around 25 lakhs), Nissan is ready with Leaf (priced around 35 lakhs), Tata with electric Nexon (priced around 15 lakhs) followed by Altroz Ev (priced around 10 lakhs), Maruti-Suzuki with electric WagonR (priced around 8-9 lakhs). As most of the issues are being addressed by the government these are few minor issues which I think need special attention.

The minor issues which need attention are-

1) The issue of disposing of the lithium-ion batteries after scrapping the vehicle off needs to be addressed.

2) Is it feasible to run electric vehicles in a country where there are few villages/regions which are still deprived of electricity?

3) Electricity should be produced using renewable energy sources like thermal, hydro, wind only and not by using coal which will completely defeat the goal of electric vehicles in India.

4)The range of electric vehicles should be increased or other alternatives need to be found out such as ways to change battery packs quickly and safely.

5) Friendly relations and good trade policies must be initiated with the countries having ample reserves of lithium-ion.

6) Although the running cost of an electric vehicle is low, the issue of very high purchase cost needs special attention.

Conclusion-

Electric cars being cheaper to run will not only be beneficial for the owner but also to the government as it will save up to 330 billion US dollars which are required to import petroleum from gulf countries. It will also help to reduce 1 gigaton of CO2 which is released into the atmosphere by the gasoline vehicles. Electric vehicles being silent to run will also reduce the noise scale in the country.

The shift from petrol/diesel to electric cars is a huge and crucial one which needs excellent planning and proper implementation. With proper implementation of policies and schemes, the future of electric vehicles in India is bright and achievable.