STATUS OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES IN INDIA

Abstract

The automobile industry has shifted to electrically driven vehicles as a result of the harm that gasoline engines do to the environment and to humans. This document discusses

explains how an electric car operates and contrasts it with hybrid vehicles and internal combustion engines. The document outlines a few of the benefits and drawbacks of the electric car. A brief look into the technology's future is also provided The electric vehicles market in India appears to be going traction. Companies have not only started to manufacture electric scooters and bikes in states like Uttar Pardesh, but have also begun to research for alternatives to lithium-ion batteries, which are mostly imported from China. Recently, EV major Tesla has announced that they are going to start its India operation soon.

Vehicle ownership is increasing rapidly in our country. In 2001, 57 people out of 1000 were a car owner and today this number has reached 197 and mostly there were fossil-fuel vehicles. India is the 5^th largest manufacturer of cars in the world. So, we can see that a lot of potentials is present here if fossil fuel vehicles are to be replaced. And the Indian government has also set a goal for the year 2030 to replace 80% of two and three-wheelers, 40% of buses, and 30 to 70% of cars in India, says the NITI Aayog. As the nation gears towards its ‘Zero-emission’ 2070 dream, funds and focus are directed towards electric mobility. And this aim has a very big monetary value. By 2030, more than 100 million people would buy an EV having a monetary value of more than 200 billion USD. India annually imports around Rs.8 lakh crore worth of crude oil. This is expected to double in the next 4-5years. Fossil fuels are a non-renewable energy source and are getting depleted at a high rate. While at it, they are also depleting the environment. From choking air quality to extreme weather conditions, we have been bearing the brunt of our extensive dependency on fossil fuel. To battle climate change, India too has been focusing on alternative and efficient energy sources, like its global counterparts.

In March 2022, Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari mentioned in the Parliament that between 2019-20 and 2020-21, the two-wheeler EVs rose by 422%, three-wheelers by 75% and four- wheelers up by 230%. The number of electric buses also increased by over 1200%.

So, the target set for 2030 looks very ambitious. But the government cannot do everything, you and the brands would have to work for this. The Indian Government wants Tesla to set up the factories here, manufacture the cars here and then sell but Elon Musk wants to sell cars by importing them from other countries. The government even proposed Tesla of importing only parts of the car and assembling them here. But Elon Musk is unturned. He wants to sell readymade cars in India. And on this, the Indian government is collecting huge duty. This is a reason for conflict between the two. So, this way the story of a foreign brand that wants to run its business here but is struck in taxes. Now, Tesla is a foreign brand, what are the Indian brands doing? The first Indian name for EVs is OLA Electric which is setting up a future factory in Tamil Nadu. This factory would have more than 3000 robots, a forest larger than 500 acres, this would be a carbon-negative factory which would be the most sustainable one and this would be the largest two-wheeler factory in the world. They claim that this factory would manufacture more than 10000 vehicles every year. And recently they have earned funding of 100 million dollars for this project. So, we were used to their cabs but now people would use their scooters. Apart from OLA Electric other brands are also emerging. Athar Energy is one among them which is getting very popular in the two-wheeler EV segment. Along with these Hero, Revolt motors, Magenta EV have also got funding of 15-30 million dollars and if we look at 3 wheelers and 4 wheelers then Hyundai, Mahindra, Ashok Leyland have also got funding of 200-400 Million USD. So, by looking at all this we can say that there is huge hustle and bustle in the internal market. Huge investments are bring made and every brand is ramping up themselves with respect to EVs.