ELECTRIC
VEHICLES IN INDIA – ENVIRONMENT
News: India’s electric vehicle market grew
223% in 2022
What's
in the news?
●
The firm expects the EV market in India to
grow to over 300,000 units in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR)
of 59%.
Advantages:
1.
Cut in greenhouse gas emissions:
●
It will curtail greenhouse emission fully.
●
Unlike fossil fuel engine vehicles, EVs
produce zero tailpipe emissions.
2. Cost Savings:
●
Electric vehicles have lower operating
costs, as electricity is generally cheaper than gasoline or diesel.
3. Noise Pollution:
●
Electric Motors function silently, and
produce much less noise compared to IC Engines.
4. Fuel fluctuations:
●
Unlike crude oil, there is a minimum level
of price fluctuations in electric vehicles.
5. Low operating cost:
●
Electric vehicles have lower fuel costs
and require less maintenance than traditional gasoline-powered vehicles.
Challenges:
1.
Import dependence:
●
Most of the Electric vehicle’s battery
components are imported.
2. Lack of infrastructure:
●
Lack of infrastructure for electric
vehicles like charging stations is a major issue.
3. High initial cost:
●
Even though the government provides
Incentives, the initial purchasing cost is very high.
4. Range issue:
●
Still some concerns are there about the
range issue.
●
It can only be used at short range
distances.
5. Long time for Charging Batteries:
●
The battery charging time is much longer
than the time taken for refuelling the ICE vehicles.
GOVERNMENT
MEASURES:
1.
FAME scheme:
●
It was introduced to incentivise people to
purchase electric vehicles at an affordable cost.
2. NEMMP:
●
The National Electric Mobility Mission
Plan was launched in 2020, which aims to have at least 30% of vehicles on
Indian roads be electric by 2030.
3. Production linked incentive scheme:
●
The government started a Production Linked
Incentive (PLI) scheme to boost domestic manufacturing and attract global
companies to invest in making electric vehicles.
4. National Mission on Transformative Mobility and Storage:
●
Government aims to drive strategies for
transformative mobility and Phased Manufacturing Programmes for electric
vehicles, electric vehicle Components and Batteries.
WAY
FORWARD:
1. Creation of phased manufacturing program:
●
Creating a Phased Manufacturing Program
(PMP) to localize production across the entire electric vehicle value chain.
●
Coordination with key stakeholders in
Ministries/ Departments/states to integrate various initiatives to transform
mobility in India.
2.
Sort out range issue:
●
The range anxiety problem can be addressed
by increased battery efficiency and expansion of charging points.
●
Battery efficiency can be improved by
further research, and expansion of charging points need greater investments.
3. Policy reforms:
●
Stabilizing the policy environment by
focusing on tax breaks and non-fiscal incentives might assist to alleviate
demand uncertainty, allowing the business to reach economies of scale.