By Jatin Bavishi
Air pollution is a massive problem in India, with its measure progressively trending upwards. The situation is acute in the metropolitan belts, where getting decent air has become a luxury. Cars running on traditional fuels like petroleum and diesel are an important contributor to this menace. Even the Government is wary of the threats of environmental damage. Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari along with Piyush Goyal (who was recently given charge of Railways Ministry along with the ministry of coal) has been recently advocating the idea that petrol and diesel vehicles will need to make way for engines running on electricity and other alternative fuel variants such as CNG, biofuel, and ethanol.
Government’s ‘green’ signal to electric cars
The Government in one of its white papers has shown interest in making India a 100% e-vehicle nation by 2030. Strictly speaking, electric cars have been available in the Indian markets for about two decades now (remember the tiny car, Reva?) but it could never present itself as lucrative for mass ridership. The Government is now taking a lead in this direction in the hope of creating a market for electric cars. Last month, State-owned Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) invited global bids for 10,000 electric sedans for use by government departments. On 14th September, the incentives were expanded for electric buses as well. The latest government step to modify the scheme for Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (the FAME-India scheme), increases the quantum of subsidy, which will be doled out to those purchasing full electric buses. A fully electric bus will now be eligible for incentives amounting to 60% of the cost of the bus or Rs. 85 lakh, whichever is lower.
Current status of Indian e-vehicle market
Time you got out here Elon. You don’t want to leave that whole market to Mahindra, do you?? The more the merrier–and greener..! this is what MD of Mahindra Group, Mr Anand Mahindra tweeted inviting Elon Musk, the owner of Tesla to manufacture e-cars in India. It was Musk who has introduced technology to make e-vehicles economically viable for the common people. He has however expressed consternation of entering India right away despite the signals from Government and other Industrialists because unless otherwise stated, Foreign Investors are required to source 30% of supplied locally. Although the authorities have hinted that this rule would not apply to Tesla since it is providing cutting-edge technology, Indian entrepreneurs must grab this policy ambivalence for importers as an opportunity to innovate, research and work on new, non-polluting technologies. This would boost Make in India campaign.
The question of maintenance
Merely producing e-cars would not make them a rational choice on peoples consumption portfolio. For it to penetrate deep into the choices of Indian consumers, there has to be a complete overhaul of our transport ecosystem. This would imply biding adieu to petrol pumps and replace it with charging stations and passing legislation to regulate it. Currently, the biggest hurdle is lack of charging points. Alternatively, there are plans to sell these vehicles without batteries: the discharged batteries can be swapped for a recharged one at dedicated places. The government sees a clear cost advantage in shifting to electric. If battery and vehicle are paid for, a sedan powered by an internal combustion engine costs Rs 7 per km to run, as opposed to Rs 1per km for an equivalent electrical vehicle. Petrol and diesel vehicles have more than 2,000 moving parts as opposed to about 20 in electric vehicles, making them 90% energy efficient against 20% for the first kind, according to The Economic Times.
E-vehicles as a panacea?
India has earmarked billions of Rupees by means of direct subsidies, tax breaks and direct procurement of e-vehicles. These are, of course, short-term measures. In the long run, if we are serious in our vision of going all electric, the success would depend on how quickly the industry scales itself up. But, even if we realize a fully functional electronic fleet by the slated timeframe, it might not itself be adequate to curb pollution. Thermal coal is the mainstay of Indias energy programme as 70 percent of power generation is dependent on it. Also, 60% of the new proposed power plants would burn coal as the chief source of energy. Hence, it can be said that e-cars are a welcome change against pollution, we may require deeper changes.
Featured image source: Pixabay