ELECTRIC VEHICLE

  Most of us, like many other inventions, had not heard about cars powered by electricity before. If one would tell us about electric vehicles becoming the future of mobility probably a decade ago, we perhaps would not believe it. However, it's turned into a reality now. E-vehicles are sitting in the driver's seat and driving the Automobile sector towards growth.

Vehicle electrification: a brief history

Electric Vehicles or EVs, as they are commonly called, are vehicles which run on electric power, either partly or fully. EVs are environment-friendly and have low running costs due to lesser moving parts.

Surprisingly, the concept of EVs is older than Internal Combustion Engines (ICEs). Scottish inventor Robert Anderson created the first electric carriage in the 1830s. Its battery wasn't rechargeable and required replacement every time it ran out. However, electric-powered continued to be in use in USA and some parts of Europe. New York had a fleet of electric taxis in the 19th century and battery swapping stations.

With the advent of ICEs, a major roadblock of frequent battery charging / swapping was removed and ICEs gained popularity world over. Thereafter, there was sporadic research on EVs whenever crude oil flared or geo-political tensions mounted. However, for a large part, ICEs rules the roost.

It was not until the turn of the century that EV development found serious interest from companies and Governments. Companies such as Toyota (Prius), Nissan (LEAF) and Tesla (Model S) took the EV chapter ahead and "glamorized" EVs. Here's a look at the EV evolution:

The EV Journey

    Source: Research Gate

India's Affair With EVs is Older Than You May Think

Source: Electricvehicle.com

Source: Wikipedia.org

Most of you would have first heard of Electric vehicles when Reva was launched in 2001. REVA which stands for "Revolutionary Electric Vehicle Alternative", was launched by a Bengaluru based automaker RECC (Reva Electric Car Company) founded by Chetan Maini. It was a joint venture between (JV) between the Maini Group of Bengaluru and Amerigon Electric Vehicle Technologies (AEVT Inc,) of the US. In 2010, RECC was acquired by Mahindra & Mahindra.

However,the first EV to launch in India was Lovebird in 1993. Loverbird was manufactured by the Eddy Electric. The vehicle was first uncovered at the Delhi Auto Expo. The vehicle managed to impress the Indian government at the launch and soon received a green signal from the authorities.

But a two-seater Loverbird, didn't receive as much love as expected from the Indian car buyers. Due to a slew of problems like, the battery used in the car at that time would take 8 hours to charge and the power failures and deficiency on the part of proper electric supply, sales volume didn't ever cross a three-digit figure. Following the low sales number, the government soon withdrew subsidy for buying EVs. This made EVs heavy on Indian consumers' pockets.

Fast Forward A Few Years Later
India is charged to achieve the status of a global hotspot for electric mobility. The Indian automobile industry currently ranks 5th in the world and is set to become the 3rd largest by 2030. The requirement of mobility is going to change drastically in the near future catering to over 1.3 billion population. The past modes of transport and infrastructure will not be able to serve the needs.

Considering this aspect, the government is working towards developing a mobility option which Shared, Connected and Electric as one report by Innovation Norway quotes.

Under the Make In India programme, the manufacturing of e-vehicles and auto parts is expected to increase the share of manufacturing in GDP to 25% by 2022. Currintly 82% of India's oil demand is sufficed by imports from oil rich country. Adoption of EVs, as per several estimates, is projec

Moreover, the price of electricity as fuel could fall as low as Rs. 1.1/Km, helping an electric vehicle owner save up to Rs. 20,000 for every 5,000km traversed.

Why EVs - advantages

So why has the world started looking at EVs as the technology of the future? Aren't we happy driving petrol/diesel driven vehicles? Ma be not. Following are some reasons:

1. Climate change - Effects of fossil fuels such as global warming, mass extinction of species and growing weather calamities have forced lawmakers across the global to look at cleaner alternatives.


2. Import bill - Countries such as India don't have any significant crude reserves and have to import the fossil fuel for their energy requirements. India incurred a crude import bill of $101bn in FY20 requiring to import 82% of its total crude needs. Hence, there is growing interest in technologies that look away from crude oil dependency - electric vehicles being one of them.


3. Pollution level - According to WHO, India is home to 14 of the world's 20 most polluted cities. A major reason for high pollution levels is fuel emissions.


4. Advancing renewable energy technology - Over the past few years, strong advancements in wind and solar energy have brought down the cost of these form of energies. This has stirred interest in EVs.


5. Low maintenance - While an IC vehicle has hundreds of moving parts, an EV has less than 30. This means less wear and tear and low cost of ownership.


6. Quieter operation - EVs make much lower noise compared to conventional vehicles since there's lower friction between moving parts. In fact, EVs are so silent that some OEMs add false sounds to make them safe for pedestrians!


7. Incentives for buyers - Governments in India (State and Central) are looking at ways to incentivize buyers to go in for EVs. They are offering lower vehicle tax, tax incentives, buyback.

Reference: Research And Ranking

-Prashant Gorakhnath Patil