India’s electric vehicle market saw sales double in 2017. Inspired by the FAME India Scheme – Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles (FAME) India which was launched under the management of the Heavy Industry Ministry.
The scheme which aimed to support hybrid or electric vehicles market development and its ecosystem initially formed part of India’s ambitious plan to be 100 per cent electric by 2030. However, this goal has subsequently been revised with a more modest target of 30% EVs by 2030.
Another spoke in the wheel of India’s EV market has been the scrapping of the order of 10 000 electric cars by the government backed EESL (Energy Efficiency Services Ltd).
However, despite these apparent setbacks in the EV market, the industry is still seeing growth, due to increased awareness, technological advancement in the automobile industry and eco-friendly innovations from India startups. Additionally, large motor corporations, the likes of Hyundai Motors Co., Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., Tata Motors Ltd., Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., Ashok Leyland Ltd. and BYD Co. are some of the automakers to unveil plans to introduce EVs in India.
Additionally, there are EV startups vying for a slice of the market such as the likes of Ather Energy, Emflux One, Tork Motorcycles and Okinawa Autotech, focusing on developing brand new EVs.
With 80 per cent of India’s EVs expected to be two-wheelers, EV startup Ather Energy, is looking to make inroads in the ebike market, launching its new electric scooter, Ather 450 – in Bengaluru on June 5 and the Ather 340, an updated version of an S340 ebike launched in 2016.
While all automobile stakeholders — the government, manufacturers, vendors, and users share a common vision that EVs are the future, based on the current growth of the industry in India (ttp://bit.ly/2OuGcTJ), it’s difficult to preempt when the industry will become mainstream.
One of the key necessities is a collaboration of all stakeholders to create an EV ecosystem with the necessary infrastructure.
Additionally, with India’s lack of lithium-ion resources, the country has thus far been dependent on other brine-rich countries for the metal’s import. And with battery packs being the most important part of EVs, accounting for almost half the cost of an EV, there is an opportunity gap to provide a solution to this issue.
According to inc42.com, (ISRO) Indian Space Research Organisation’s latest lithium-ion technology could prove to be a game-changer for electric vehicles in India. India’s premier space organisation recently agreed to transfer its space-grade lithium-ion technology at a marginal cost of INR 1 Cr on a non-exclusive basis for use in automobiles to enable manufacturers make a paradigm shift towards electric mobility. As per the latest news, almost 130 EV companies already shown interest in the technology.
ISRO’s cost effective offer comes at a time when the World Health Organization (WHO) has revealed that 14 of the 20 most polluted cities in the world are in India. With EVs being at least 3 to 3.5 times more energy efficient than the traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, ISRO’s intervention may just prove to be the game changer for transforming India’s EV evolution into a revolution, facilitating the revival of the government’s original to be 100 per cent electric by 2030.
Sources
- https://inc42.com/buzz/electric-vehicles-this-week-isro-lithium-ion-battery-may-spur-on-countrys-ev-technology-bike-sharing-platform-mobycy-to-raise-3-mn-and-more/
- https://about.bnef.com/blog/indias-electric-vehicle-market-doubled-2017/
- https://inc42.com/features/why-building-evs-in-india-is-an-uphill-ride-electric-scooter-startup-ather-energy-drives-the-point-home/
