How are Electric Vehicles (EVs) different from
conventional fuel scooters? (State and national initiatives angle)
Air pollution
and emissions continue to be a thorn in the daily lives of people with major
cities facing the effects of the same. India’s population levels should give
one an idea of the strain its transport sector is producing on a global scale.
Amidst all that, there has been the advent of electric vehicles or EV’s. These electric
bikes and cars are aimed towards reducing the staggering 25% of global emissions due to transport.
How are
electric bikes and cars different from their fuel-based counterparts?
Electric bikes and cars are rather different in a lot
of aspects when it comes to traditional transport. First and foremost is the
price point of EV’s. It costs a bit more than fuel-based vehicles which put off
most buyers in India. However, it is after this point that EV’s start to cost
lesser. With fuel costs rising across the country, the expenditure on a
standard fuel scooter is getting higher.
Compared to
that, some of the best electric scooters available can provide similar
performance in terms of mileage and speed at a fraction of that cost. They also
take the edge when it comes to maintenance costs. However, without the proper
infrastructure for EV’s, the general population has more or less stuck to
petrol and diesel vehicles.
What is the
current status of EV’s in India?
To put it
mildly, India has been slow to the reception of the whole global transition
towards EV’s. Cut back to 2019, India accounted for a mere 2.3% of
the world EV numbers at the time.
Also rather worryingly, only
0.085% of the total
automobile sales were electric in nature during the current year in India.
There are definitely reasons behind the same. Lack of awareness, high initial
cost and no proper infrastructure is just some of the issues that make the
penetration of electric bikes and cars difficult in the Indian market.
However, with
climate change producing alarming issues across the country in places such as
Delhi, more efforts are being made by the central and state governments. They
have started to help manufacturers such as Gemopai in ushering in a greener mode of
transportation over the next few years.
India’s plan
for curbing climate change
The COP 26
summit in Glasgow is an important one when it comes to the future of the
planet. The goal will be to cap the rise in global temperatures and reduce
emissions. Countries are being urged to take up ambitious targets for the same
and India too, has a few in mind.
The general
belief is that the subcontinent will focus on
reducing carbon emissions but not entirely commit to a net-zero target. That is understandable
given the difference in per capita emission rates from countries such as the
US, China and so on. There are more goals as well such as achieving
higher rates of renewable energy production by the end of the decade.
The Central and
State initiatives to encourage the adoption of electric bikes and cars
With a lot of
targets to fulfil over the next few years, the Government of India has taken a
number of initiatives to push forward a cleaner and greener modicum of
transport. The aim is to switch to electric bikes and cars to help with
the cut down on carbon emissions. To fulfil on those promises, there have been
some initiatives taken on a central and state level.
FAME & FAME
II under the NEMMP
The two
policies are a part of the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP)
2020. FAME stands for Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and EV. Under
the first phase of FAME, discounts and subsidies were provided on EV’s. Even
GST was lowered to help with potential growth to 30%
market share for electric
bikes and cars. FAME II has set its focus on incentivizing the use of EV’s
and the development of charging infrastructure for the same.
State promotion
of EV schemes
To expedite the
adoption of EV’s, states have come up with their own policies. Karnataka has reduced
GST and interest for
manufacturers. Andhra Pradesh plans to develop 1,00,00 charging stations by the
next three years. Maharashtra will enable their fuel stations to provide
electric charging facilities. Other prominent states have devised plans to
increase the number of EV’s over the next few years and additional incentives
for scrapping old vehicles.
Schemes for
suppliers
To address the
issue at the root, a number of policies and schemes have been implemented in a
bid to encourage the production of electric bikes and cars. The
Production Linked Incentive (PLI) was implemented last year to encourage
domestic production of EV parts
and invite investments from foreign countries as well.
The policy has
made manufacturing of automotive parts more incentivized. To aid with the
transition to EV’s, subsidies have been approved for manufacturers of
batteries. Since that aspect covers almost half the manufacturing costs of an
EV, a reduction in that sector will reduce the price of EV’s for consumers.
India is on its
way towards a sustainable future with EV’s
The growth for
EV’s has definitely been rather slow in India but there is the market for
potential growth. The same holds substance when many foreign companies such as
Tesla are setting
up subsidiaries in India,
whereas London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC) are entering
the Indian market as well.
A $3.5Bn
incentive scheme from the
government has two purposes. It will boost the production of electric bikes
and cars. On top of that, it is aimed to attract new investment in the sector.
With more developments taking place from companies such as Gemopai, it paints a better picture for the future
of EV’s in India.
There is also the
eye on reducing
the costs for EV’s.
Projections are there that the cost of some of the top electric scooters
will be more in line with their fuel-based counterparts. Developing support
infrastructure for the same is also on the agenda. Such initiatives and
policies are definitely important step when it comes to India’s fight for a
more sustainable future.
Reference
Links-
https://www.electrive.com/2021/09/17/india-aims-to-boost-ev-production-with-incentives/
https://medium.com/batterybits/electric-vehicle-policy-framework-in-india-6bdc3ed64ed7
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0972262919875548
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