This article I wrote appeared in the Deccan Herald on 31st Dec 2020. In spite of the government actions to improve EV uptake, the numbers are not encouraging. .
1) India has 22 cars per 1000 people now and this is expected to touch 175 by 2040. Even a fraction is assumed to be EV, the infrastructure required is huge and we are way off the mark. The global average is 1 public charging station for every 7-8 cars.
2) EV price is about 25-30% . But the Maintenance and Running costs will add upto about 15-18% or ICE price. Net-net the car becomes cheaper than ICE car in over 4 years of regular driving.
3) OEMs and government need to invest in R&D. We need to steps-up R&D spend on upcoming technologies like Induction charging or Solid state batteries.
Overall, the government has to take the lead with proactive investment in Infra OEMs and we the public must also support.
Please click on the link India’s EV conundrum: Incentives in place, but no infrastructure OR Click/Right Click on the image for print replica
