The Indian EV Industry 2022:
From last few years we can see a huge craze for EVs (Electric Vehicle) in the Indian market. Not only electric bicycle but also electric scooters, electric cars, electric rikshaw (also known as E-Rickshaw) are showing their presence in the road.
What is EV?
Any vehicle that runs on an electric motor and a battery is called Electric Vehicle (EV). The batteries are mostly rechargeable. For charging these vehicles can have either fast charging socket or a standard electrical socket.
There are 4 types of EVs:
- Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV):This EVs are fully powered by rechargeable batteries not only that, these are also most efficient among other EVs. In 2020, this segment has captured around 96% of total Indian EV market.
- Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV):This type of EVs not only have the battery powered electric motor but also have an internal combustion (mostly petrol) engine. The petrol engine runs the car as well as charges the battery when it drained. HEVs are not efficient as BEVs & PHEVs.
- Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV):This EVs also have battery powered electric motor and internal combustion (mostly petrol) engine but here we can charge the battery from an external socket. Which means we don’t need to charge the battery by the engine. These EVs are more efficient than HEVs but less efficient than BEVs.
- Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV):This EVs also have electric motor but here the motor is powered by fuel cell Stacks. These fuel cell stacks converts hydrogen to electricity. Toyota launched first FCEV named Mirai, in INDIA on 16thMarch 2022 in presence of union minister Nitin Gadkari.
Market Size and Growth:
Indian automobile industry contributes almost 7.1% in the GDP. In the financial year 2020-2022 this industry has produced almost 22.93 million vehicles not only passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, two wheelers but also three wheelers and quadricycles.
In 2020, Indian EV market valued almost 220.1 million USD and in 2021 the market has grown up to 383.5 million USD. The market has already shown 87.13% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) from 2013 to 2022 (till date).
No. of EV sold all over the India
From 2021 to 2030 we can expect a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 94.4%. The revenue forecast of Indian EV market is 152.21 billion USD in 2030. India’s automobile industry is almost set become the 3rd largest in the world by 2030.
Let’s take a look which states have how much EV in India in 2022.
Drivers of EV industry:
- Low maintenance and low running cost: Running cost of an electric vehicle is very low as compared to a petrol or diesel. Let’s see a comparison with a regular petrol vehicle below. To calculate Click here.
Now the cost of maintenance, as an EV has fewer moving parts as compared to a regular petrol or diesel vehicle so the maintenance cost is also lower than a regular vehicle. But yes, routine service is mandatory.
- Help by Government:Both government (Central & State) are providing various subsidies and incentives to grow the EV market in India. Some people might think the cost of EV is higher than a regular diesel or petrol car but the effective cost over a long time is still less than a regular car.
Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric (and Hybrid) vehicles also known as FAME is a scheme for promoting EVs. This scheme is currently in 2nd phase and implemented for 3 years. Rs. 10,000 Cr allocated in the 2019 budget for this. The incentives are shown below.
Government of various states are providing some subsidies as per their convenience. The list is following.
3. Increasing prices of conventional fuel: It is nothing secret price of conventional fuels are going sky rocket at this time. For this reason, many people started to switch towards EVs.
*Prices here are Delhi based
Trends in EV industry:
- Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI):Now a days AI (Artificial Intelligence) is everywhere, but there are still many ways to implement it. AI is totally data driven, it can monitor the daily commute of the driver and suggest best charging cycle according to the recorded data. Some premium EVs like Tesla and some models of Mercedes Benz are totally AI driven, in fact these cars can run without a driver.
According to McKinsey, “By 2024, AI-generated speech will be behind more than 50% of people’s interactions with computers.”
- Use of Non-Lithium battery:In almost every EV the main power source is Lithium-ion battery it is an advance method in these days but Lithium is costly which makes the EVs costly.So, we should not focus only on upgrading the EVs but we should also focus in advancing the battery chemistry.
Many technology start-ups are already working on it some are upgrading Lithium-ion technology like Adden Energy while others are developing new battery technology like graphite battery.
- Personal Mobility Devices (PDMs):Small EV for single person is called a Personal Mobility Devices or PDMs. In tire-1 cities these PDMs are in preference for travelling in very short distance these PDMs are mostly are battery cycles. Very soon these PDMs will capture the whole market for last mile mobility solution.
Challenges for EV industry:
- Environmental Concerns:The EVs are running on battery powered electric motor but the battery is charging on electricity and this electricity is mostly coming from thermal power plants. Increase of EV means the demand of electricity will go up, this means thermal power plant will burn more coal to supply the demand which means thermal power plant will emit more CO2. Not only this, also to make the battery we need REEs (Rare Earth Elements: Nickel, Cobalt, Lithium and Graphite) for that we need to do some mining activities and the process itself is very polluting. After all these we can say that there is nothing called ‘zero emission’ the emission happening somewhere else.
- Poor Infrastructure:EVs have a certain range after that it needs to chargethe battery for that a charging station is required. But now in India we can’t find a charging station every here and there. In fact, if we found the charging station then also it takes time to charge, the time depends on the type of charger as well as how much you want to charge.
- Temperature Issues and Lack of Performance:EVs are way behind as compared to a Internal Combustion engine driven vehicles in terms of performance. In fact, outside temperature plays a vital role in EVs range if the temperature is to high (like Rajhasthan, Chennai) or to low (like Kashmir, Meghalaya) battery can’t give the ideal performance so the range will be dropped. Also, in order to take maximum range we must use the regenerative-breaking.
