The road ahead for India’s vision of electric transportation and a cleaner way of life

Elon Musk dreams to see America bring down its carbon footprint while on the move, even as US leadership has looked away from the Paris Climate Agreement. In India, with a supportive government vision and a strong start-up culture, we look towards electric vehicles (EVs) going mainstream.

The reasons why…

The government announced last month that by 2030 India will be an EV-only nation. The GST is at 12% on EVs and there are incentives for both manufacturers and consumers, under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles scheme. A recent report by NITI Aayog, in association with the Rocky Mountain Institute, on Transformational Mobility in India, observes that every day, nearly 50,000 new motor vehicles, including two-, three- and four-wheelers are registered. In 2015, India imported more than 80% of its oil, costing us ₹4.2 lakh crore. A report by market research firm RedSeer Management Consulting, claimed Ola and Uber collectively clocked in over 500 million rides in 2016, nearly four times up from 2015. Meanwhile, by 2040, the share of passenger cars is expected to account for 54% of road fuel demand for personal transport, with car ownership reaching 175 vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants, as stated in a study by the International Energy Agency in December 2015. Traffic congestion and pollution hazards (a 2016 World Health Organization study found India is home to 10 of the world’s 20 most polluted cities) are also part of the picture.

The plan is…

The International Energy Agency report states that India has the sixth-largest fleet of natural gas vehicles in the world, largely comprising taxis and buses. We are not new to the concept of green public transport therefore, and don’t equate eco-friendly with expensive (though the government has taxed hybrids at 28% with a 15% cess). The NITI Aayog report that detailed a three-phase plan for the shift, has also said that the adoption of electric and shared vehicles could save $60 billion in diesel and petrol cost, and cut our carbon emission by as much as 1 gigatonne (GT) by 2030.

Taxi cabs, Ola and Lithium, have made pioneering efforts in this direction. “We started with a small fleet of about 10 cars and now have more than 400 electric vehicles operating as cabs in Delhi and Bengaluru. The demand is robust and more people are giving it a try,” says Sanjay Krishnan, founder of Lithium. Ola’s contribution was part of the Maharashtra Government’s efforts to spearhead the electric revolution in India, by collaborating with them on making Nagpur the first city with a fleet of 200 electric vehicles, including taxis, buses, e-rickshaws and autos. All the electric cars in the fleet are sourced from Mahindra, currently the only car player in the market.

There are challenges...

Ather Energy is in the process of launching an electric scooter for urban use. But they know there are several challenges ahead. “First, we have to examine whether we have enough electricity. The second challenge is to ensure the availability of charging stations. There are very few private players in the market focusing on developing these stations,” says Tarun Mehta, CEO and co-founder. For New Delhi, power supply is not the main concern, observes Polash Mukerjee, Senior Research Associate, part of the Clean Air and Sustainable Mobility team at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).

“We have studied this extensively in the case of Delhi, and the city is under-utilising its power sources to a large extent,” he says. “The real problem arises during the peak loads in grids. Unless there is a charging infrastructure, the norm would be to charge vehicles at home, even in case of taxi owners. But this would pose a challenge in summer when air-conditioners are in use. There needs to be a dedicated charging infrastructure that vehicles can utilise during non-peak hours. For most of the urban population, it would need to be centred around the workplace, and this would require a lot of planning around the electrical grids.” Vinit Bansal, Founder and Managing Director at EV Motors, which provides e-mobility solutions (including EVs and the charging infrastructure), agrees. “The setting up of charging points at particular locations for fleets, requires a certain level of efficiency in the management and the quality of energy supply without disrupting the grid. For private organisations to do that, there has to be a business model that allows them to sell the services. The current policy on electric vehicles in India doesn’t allow that and the tariff structure of the government is prohibitive,” he explains. Issues around the tariffs, the selling points and the usage of the charging points are being addressed by the government.

For starters...

Bansal and Mehta recommend that India begin by introducing EVs into the public transport system, mostly through buses. Mehta says, “The focus in this case would be on swappable battery technologies, great for public vehicles because of the time constraint involved. It is easier for them to keep moving, especially if they have quick stations to swap batteries. It also works well for autos and cabs.” Mukerjee says there are electric public transportation models across the world, including Sweden and San Francisco, that need to be looked at. “It is easier to optimise infrastructure when the routes are fixed. But for electric cars, the market in Indian needs to mature. The associated ecosystem, including the manufacture of vehicles, needs to be looked at.

(With inputs from Nikhil Varma)