The Union Budget has paved the way for boosting electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure in a big way. Main among them will be ramping up the EV charging stations to minimise the inconvenience caused to EV owners while on the move. So, if this is implemented in the near term (that is in three years), we may see EV charging stations coming up in every nook and corner of the country.
This may prompt prospective car buyers to migrate to EVs from internal combustion engine (ICE) cars. Moreover, carmakers may also launch many more EV models compared to ICE ones in order to deter buyers from buying the latter.
And, finally, we may see the ICE cars slowly being phased out. However, only one roadblock would remain for e-cars in the near term. The pricing of EVs is still very steep.
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| The Hyundai Kona EV |
For instance, the Tata Nexon petrol version is available at Rs 740,000 (Rs 7.4 lakh), whereas the EV version is double the price at Rs 14,00,000 (Rs 14 lakh).
The Budget had deterred ICE cars to such an extent, that they may soon be in minority, when it comes to sales. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman also hinted that cities in the country could soon see no-go zones for ICE vehicles.
Moreover, with a push to battery swapping, it will cause even more convenience to owners of EVs. Battery swapping is when an exhausted battery is replaced by a fully-charged one. For this, there must be dedicated and reliable points for battery swapping.
Several EV manufacturers in the country use varied types of chargers in vehicles as there is no standardisation in the industry. This is a roadblock, making it difficult for the charging stations to cater to the needs of the people.
However, Reliance Industries and UK’s BP have tied up for battery-swapping technology. Another such venture is two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp with Taiwan’s Gogoro. The Centre has set some targets for EVs.
According to it, India will see one-third sales penetration of EVs in the private cars segment by 2030. However, for commercial vehicles, it is a whopping 70 per cent and for the bus segment, it will be 40 per cent.
For two and three wheelers, the target has been set at 30 per cent. India is moving very fast towards EV adoption and these targets could be achieved well before the deadline if the EV price tag falls to match ICE counterparts.
As of now, India does not offer too many options on charging. The central government says that, currently, the country has registered over 970,000 EVs. Compared to this, public charging stations installed throughout the country stand at just over 1,000. This needs to improve fast to facilitate the adoption of EVs.
EV adoption in India has been slow mainly because of lack of infrastructure, the steep price and lack of awareness. But the government has actively come up with a policy to boost infrastructure in the Budget.
And, with the slew of EV launches coming up, even prices are set to dip, maybe in three to five years.
So, EV infra boost in the Budget may lead to early adoption of electric vehicles by many in the country.
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