Electric Vehicle (EV) industry is driven by the total cost of ownership, the asset utilization plays a key role to achieve that, says Nishant Arya, Vice Chairman, JBM Group and Chairman, Linde Wiemann Gmbh who strongly believes India’s renewable energy programs must integrate EVs, especially when country is targeting 523 gigawatts by 2030.

Arya elaborates his point further, “Buses generally run 200-250 Kms a day and that's where we are able to get maximum value in terms of the asset utilization. Each electric bus saves about 70,000 liters of diesel, meaning a lot could be done in terms of energy security. In terms of charging infrastructure, we have to again ensure the best asset utilization. For example, if we set the charging station in the bus depot, we can charge multiple vehicles during the day when regular buses are out. In the longer run, India needs scale and size to drive costs and enhance the total cost of ownership for multi-folded growth. For that to happen, it needs a very good domestic market."

"If we are producing the commercial vehicles for local demand, we have that scale by adding the global requirements to it. That will definitely give a big fillip to manufacturers where they will have an edge to have inclusive growth in terms of getting the right scale and technology. In the case of EV, there is a need for a level playing field and removal of demarcation of local and international parts in terms of quality. We have to focus on global products that can be sold everywhere. For that we need to create an ecosystem with key enablers being skill development, supply chain, and financial support,” added Arya.

Arya and other stakeholders expressed their thoughts at the webinar ‘Accelerating the EV Ecosystem: Towards a Greener and Cleaner India@75’ organized by the FICCI.

Listing out challenges, Ashish Kundra, Principal Secretary, Transport, Govt. of Delhi, said, “We had set up ambitious targets of EV but COVID-19 pandemic has set us backwards in terms of achieving them. City-wise charging infrastructure is a challenge ahead of growth in scale of EVs. Interoperability of charging point infrastructure is important, especially when one company's charging point doesn't work for the other. Financing of electric vehicles is a big issue as banks generally aren't confident due to untested technology. At the same time, NBFCs lending rates are a bit higher. The uncertainty in performance over the period of time is making the consumers hesitant in making the shift. However, in the last few months, we have seen growth in the manufacturing space with a lot of Indian companies now jumping into two wheelers and four wheelers, the most promising segment within the space where the economics are working outright."

"Another area of potential is public transport where EV buses can fill in but the challenge is that the distances are longer and the technology is still evolving. In Delhi, we have a huge market for e-rickshaws and we are working on battery swapping stations. Recently IGL has decided to set up 50 battery swapping points at its various petrol pumps. We are trying to make it dealer oriented so that government interference is minimized. We are incentivizing the new EV purchases by existing operators,” added Kundra. 

David Mayer, Managing Director, Phinergy Limited whose Israel based company has entered into a joint venture with Indian Oil Corporation, says he is trying to understand the Indian EV ecosystem to develop the right technologies.

“Our JV with Indian Oil is aimed at commercializing our technology in India. The distribution capacity of Indian Oil will come as a huge benefit to popularize our flagship product offering. Since our battery technology has a very good density and aluminum plate, it is easy to swap. We have done a program with Mahindra Electric where it earlier drove 100 kilometres on a single change and now it has even gone up to 400 kilometres. It helps to limit the time and infrastructure required by a consumer in a day to day life. As India is abundant in aluminium, we are using the metal smelt and recycled in the country," commented Mayer.  

"We have gained know-how on utilizing energy (electrons) in the metal. It is a solid state fuel cell with non-corrosive, non-blasting material, having wide applications. For introducing the new technologies, we need regulatory support. The area that looks lucrative is e-rickshaws as they relatively travel short distances, needing to be recharged. We have three automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in India and we are expecting vehicles early next year,” says Mayer.

Sudhendu J. Sinha, Adviser (Infrastructure Connectivity & Electric Mobility), NITI Aayog informs that the think tank is holding consultations with various stakeholders to fuel public discourse, ultimately leading to improvements at policy level.

Sinha explains, “EV ecosystem consists of many elements and if we identify the principal terminals, these are manufacturing, research infrastructure, and technology to address the range anxiety. We need to develop our own standards due to the diverse geography we have in India. Nine cities have been identified for making charging infrastructure into a mass movement. Rather than charging stations, it is best to have charging points on the pattern of mobile phones. Every electric pole in residential areas should function as a charging point. We have existing schemes and we need to move fast on them. In a time span of 2-5 years, we will see a lot of ground breaking changes when we see our own manufacturing. Once we have our own Advanced Chemistry Cells (ACC) and storage system, we will see a complete transformation. Inflection point to switch from conventional to EV will happen when people start waiting for the two wheelers and not the other way round. ACC manufacturers will be given two years of waiting time before they start manufacturing. We are re-strategizing constantly for a long time and we achieved a lot in the last 3 months. At the same time, while the regulatory framework is constantly evolving, we need clarity and awareness.”