EV is the future
In the recently-presented Union Budget 2022-23, the union government made it clear that electric vehicles are going to be the future of mobility in India in the next decade. The annual sales of electric two-wheelers have witnessed an over 5x growth in this financial year, according to a report by The Economic Times.
EV penetration is still low at 0.8 percent despite the growth. Some of the reasons for slow adoption are range anxiety, lack of charging infrastructure and high cost of cars. On the other hand, rising fuel prices have pushed buyers to think of more affordable vehicle options, the report said.
Pros of EV
The biggest attraction of EVs is that it’s environment-friendly, having zero tailpipe emission. This means car owners can do miles of emission-free driving. In a bid to battle pollution, a number of states have given EVs a major policy push, with introductory incentives such as waiver of RTO fees or road taxes. These have made ownership of EVs.
EVs produce maximum torque right from the word go. When we compare it with ICE-powered vehicles, EVs are a lot more easy to ride due to their strong acceleration. Compared to conventional vehicles, the running costs of EVs are lower. A zero maintenance for EV makes customers not to venture for periodic servicing. EVs have higher energy efficiency than fossil-fuel-based cars. According to Cars24, battery-powered cars get an energy efficiency of up to 62 percent compared to about 21 percent efficiency of fossil fuel-powered vehicles.
Cons of EV
EVs charge on power that comes from the electric grid, which is often powered by fossil fuels.
EVs are expensive and this is one of the major disadvantages. The total cost of the vehicle is much higher than ICE vehicles as the cost of batteries is high. Lack of infrastructure is another major challenge for EVs in India. Lack of charging stations is a major disadvantage. EVs can go around 400 km on single charge.
Some owners plan to charge electric cars at home. This is a time consuming process as it can take up to 24 hours or more to reach a full charge. Owners can install faster power outlets, which entails a separate cost.
EVs are meant to promote green energy. But the EV batteries are made out of rare earth elements such as lithium, nickel and cobalt. These elements are extracted from the ground with very polluting processes.
The maintenance cost of an electric car is lesser than that of a conventional vehicle, but spare parts are hard to find and can cost the owner dearly,
A battery swapping policy and inter-operability standards would be formulated soon according to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who announced the same on the Union Budget. This is expected to address concerns over range and charging of electric vehicles. The government would encourage the private sector to develop sustainable and innovative business models for battery swapping or battery as a service, the finance minister said.
