Electric Vehicles in India

 

Electric Vehicles in India

India has recognized that EVs are the future of road transportation. However, even with EVs’ much higher energy efficiency and significantly fewer moving parts (and, thus, significantly higher reliability), customers often avoid purchasing EVs today only because of their higher costs. Because lithium (Li)-ion battery prices are falling rapidly, it is a matter of only a few years before EVs become a preferred vehicle in India.

Only in 2017 did the industry and government take note that, if they failed to act, they would lose the race, and the country would be flooded with imported EVs. Besides, in most large cities, India’s air quality is incredibly poor. Petrol/diesel vehicles contribute significantly to such pollution, and EVs can provide the answer.

Industry, academia, and research and design (R&D) personnel (with some government support) got together in 2017 and created a task force to figure out a solution. The group realized that EVs were being promoted all over the world with large government support and subsidies. In fact, subsidies in the United States, Europe, and China range from 30% to 40% of the total cost. However, the Indian government was not in a position to provide large subsidies, even though some tax concessions and limited incentives could have been possible. Making any significant headway in such a situation looked like an impossible task. However, the task force did not give up and persisted in finding a solution for the Indian context.

India’s Unique Situation

India’s vehicle composition is very different from that in many other parts of the world. It is obvious that two-wheelers dominate the Indian automobile sector. Three-wheeler taxis (called autos) operate all over India and carry a large number of passengers. The commercial vehicle segment including buses and trucks rose to 856,000 units during 2017–2018. Buses represent a significant part of this total and provide public transport for a large segment of India’s population. Therefore, if India could start its EV program with two-wheeled and three wheeled public vehicles, it would make a large impact, both socially as well as in terms of the environment. City buses could follow.

The second point that needs to be understood is the low cost and affordability of such vehicles in India. There are other ways Indian vehicles differ from those used elsewhere in the world. Most vehicles in Indian cities are driven at low speeds, averaging under 25 km/h, so the vehicles have to be designed to be energy efficient at such speeds. Furthermore, they rarely travel long distances. A privately owned two-wheeler would typically travel 20–30 km, and a four-wheeler would travel about 30–40 km/day. Besides, the ambient temperature in most parts of the country is over 35 °C and can exceed 45 °C on many days. One needs to understand the impact of these temperatures on the life cycles of EV batteries when they are being charged as well as discharged.

Most importantly, because India’s EV program will get no subsidy (or only a very limited one), the country needs to determine how its EV strategy can evolve so that it will not require a substantial financial subsidy from the government.

India’s Strategy

Given the constraints/opportunities discussed previously, India’s EV strategy evolved by focusing on

a) the energy efficiency of EVs

b) adding battery swapping as an option to charging and developing a charging and swapping infrastructure

c) an end-to-end battery ecosystem from materials to battery pack

d) the generation of demand, especially with electric public transport.

The strategy resulted in a unique approach for India’s EV ramp-up. We will illustrate this with an example of an electric auto widely used for public transport.

Reference: IEEE Electrification Magazine / December 2018

To be continued.......