There has been a lot of talk regarding the Indian government planning to switch to EV in its entirety in 2030 and there has been a lot of skepticism regarding whether the government can meet its goal.So I just wanted to take some time and kind of discuss whether the government can achieve its goals.

Before we start to talk about the current infrastructure and the expandability of the electric network let’s just talk about why India needs to switch to EV and invest in sustainable technologies -

1)Air and Noise Pollution-India is at the point where the government can no longer avoid its massive pollution problem.Last year Delhi’s air quality went down below dangerous levels and this is just one extreme example but overall quality is going down in every major and small city.Many compared Delhi to Beijing which has had massive air pollution problem for more than a decade now.The noise pollution is increasing people’s anxiety, stress to some dangerous levels.It’s only a matter of time that we switch to silent, pollution free transportation.There’s an estimate that by improving air and noise pollution India could potentially save hundreds and billions of dollars in healthcare cost.

2)The Paris agreement-It’s the most historic agreement of all time with more than 190 countries participating for the first time and it’s important that India completes its goal as it’s one of the biggest polluters in the world and completing the agreement will only help India solidify its role in the global market as one of the big players.The US pulling out of the accords has been criticised by nearly every major country and creates a leadership vacuum which provides an opportunity for countries like China and India to take the lead.Now Let’s take a brief look at the challenges that India faces to fully switch to electric

1) Lack of electric penetration in the country-More than 300 million people don’t have any access to electricity(around 20 percent, mostly in villages).

2)Lack of electric charging infrastructure-There are some charging stations in India but not enough to transition the population to all electric system.

3)India needs to invest large scale manufacturing of EV.To complete the demanding challenges of the population.

Let’s talk about this issue one by one-

The issue of Electric Penetration- I think solar is going to be a big part of electrification of villages as most of the India has a massive potential for solar energy. Every village roof will be an electric generator with essentially next to nothing cost.There will be no need for setting up complicated electric power lines.

Also, India needs to expand their energy generation capacity by many folds and The International Energy Agency estimates India will add between 600 GW to 1,200 GW of additional new power generation capacity before 2050.I think with solar and other renewable sources becoming cheaper India will be able to meet the demand for all EV by 2030 seems likely.

The issue of Electric Charging-This also seems like not that hard to achieve as we can put up car charging stations in gas pumps and people can also put up charging in their homes.While there is a lack of electric penetration in many areas more than 80 percent of India have electricity.You can essentially put up an electric charging in any place with relative ease compared to gas stations in which you are dealing with highly volatile substance so it’s only a matter of time charging stations will start popping up all across the nation.NTPC have already started putting up charging stations all across the major cities.The Government will be able to meet up with the 2030 demands.

The issue of EV manufacturing-I think this is the thing that’s going to be the make or break deal for India whether the manufacturers are able to create an EV car on a large scale to meet the demands of consumers while maintaining the quality and making it cheap to use compared to gas cars.

As of now the EV’s have not been impressive at all, In order to make people switch to electric the cars need to be way better than most of the internal combustion cars.In this case, I think India needs to get more Chinese companies in the mix because the western companies have not been able to capture the Indian market even in the normal gas cars.

Though the one company that needs to enter the Indian market to change EV’s perception in India from slow, boring cars to attractive cars is Tesla.They clearly have done an incredible job all across the globe to make electric cars attractive and I think they can do the same thing for Indian buyers to showcase the true potential of EV’s.

I think there are many companies that are really interested in getting into the Indian market.Mahindra and Mahindra have already laid out their plans to launch all new electric cars in every segment through 2019.

I think Indian govt needs to do more to make EV’s more attractive, more subsidies need to be established and proper infrastructure needs to be developed.Currently, there’s heavy import tax that I think needs to be relaxed in India for EV to create interest for companies.I think Norway is also planning to finish selling gas cars by 2027 so I think there are some good tips Indian govt can take from them in how to execute their ambitious plans and set up proper subsidies.This is the one place where the things are more uncertain.

I think it’s important to note that most government plans are very aggressive and there is a good chance things might not come together in exactly 2030 but I think it’s gonna come together in this time frame.Well regardless of things come together or not it’s a good thing India is taking an aggressive approach.The only thing we can do is wait and watch.