The following points can be considered to promote Electric mobility transformation in India
Availability of Electric Vehicle Charging Infra: The Major hurdle in the adoption of electric mobility by common people is the non-availability of a Public Electric Vehicle Charging station as per the requirement. The government may plan to add charging stations at various public places like Parking Areas, Distribution company (DISCOM) premises, and Urban Local Bodies (ULB) premises. In China, they have more than 8,00,000 Nos. of Electric Vehicle Charging stations available in urban areas and due to this, China has more users of the electric vehicle. The following activities may be performed by the government to promote electric mobility: –
- The private player is still not actively investing in the development of charging stations as the use of charging stations is very low and due to this, revenue generation is very difficult. The government may introduce a Model for the implementation of an Electric Vehicle Charging station in which 50% stake-holding shall be done by private industries and 50% investment is done by the government. It will help the private players to invest more in charging infrastructure.
- DISCOM, ULBs, and Development authorities in each city have sufficient area and electric infrastructure for the development of electric vehicle infrastructure. The government may issue a mandate to them for the implementation of the Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure and provide sufficient investment. As these government organization is not in profit and requires government support to build these infrastructures. In this, 50% of the investment may be done by the state government and 50% of the investment may be done by the central government.
- Implementation of Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure may also be considered in the CSR activities and government may make it mandatory for the implementation of at least one charging station outlet at a public place in each corporate house. The number of charging station outlets may depend upon the Annual turnover of corporate houses. This will also benefit the Corporate houses to increase their brand visibilities in public places.
Promotion of 2 Wheelers Electric Vehicles: In India, the 2-Wheeler market is still a leading market in the automobile industry. The Indian 2- Wheeler market includes Motorcycle, Scooter, mopeds, and performance bikes. The Motorcycle is the leading category in the Indian 2-wheeler market. The Indian 2-wheeler market is growing significantly and as per the sales data of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM approximately 20 Million 2-wheeler are sold in the Indian market every year. If you take a look at your nearby area, you will find that there is more availability of 2-wheelers as compared to 4-wheelers. There are lots of private players which have introduced 2-wheeler electric vehicles. The legacy companies like Hero, Bajaj, etc are already introduced electric 2-wheelers and also there are several startups like Ather, Revolt, etc. State, as well as the central government, are already providing numerous subsidies for these 2-wheeler electric vehicles. They may introduce the following scheme mentioned below to increase the 2-wheeler penetration:
- The government may introduce an awareness program towards the use of electric 2-wheeler usages. A separate agency may be introduced like PCRA for electric vehicle awareness.
- A buyback scheme may be introduced in replacement of conventional electric vehicles
- Zero Financing schemes from the government banks like SBI, and PNB may be introduced for the purchase of electric vehicles.
Linking of Electric Vehicle uses with electricity bills: A new scheme i.e. Linking of Electric Vehicle uses with electricity bills may be introduced. In this scheme, we may estimate that a person is using a conventional vehicle daily for its to and fro activities and drives 200 KM each day. And he is driving its vehicles 20 days a month. Hence total km covered by him is 4000 KM per month. By considering a factor i.e. an average of 10 KM per liter of fuel used. He purchases 400 liters of fuel per month. It is estimated that the burning of 1 liter of fuel will generate 2 kg of CO2 equivalent. Hence that person has generated 800 Kg of CO2 equivalent in a month. For the 1 unit of electricity consumption, it is estimated that 840 grams of CO2 are generated. 800 KG of CO2 equivalent comes to around 950 Units of Electricity. The government may provide a rebate on the electricity bill of 1/10 of the electricity bills i.e. 95 Units. The government may redeem the carbon credits against the CO2 equivalent from the carbon financing institute. A proper mechanism may require to run these kinds of schemes. This scheme may inspire the common public for the more utilization of electric vehicles. This initiative may help in the Electric mobility transformation in India.
Manufacturing of Batteries & Electronic Chips: India has a more than 5 billion US dollar Batteries market potential and a more than 21 billion US dollar Electronic component market and this market is continuously growing with a CAGR of 10% per year, Government may introduce a Public sector unit for the production of batteries and electronic chips. It will help the implementation of large-scale production of batteries and electronic chips and it will also lead to end-consumer price reduction of electric vehicles as well as skill and potential development.
Last, but not least, the government may mandate the utilization of electric vehicles in each government organization, PSUs, Central and state government companies, departments, and ministries. This will help us to increase the visibility of electric vehicles on the roads and will inspire the common public to invest their money toward the procurement and utilization of electric vehicles.
Please also read my article on: https://energy4planet.org/electric-2-wheelers-future-in-india/