Status of electric mobility in India

India’s electric vehicle industry is taking huge forward strides. The National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020 was launched by the Central Government in 2013 to boost the manufacture of hybrid and electric vehicles in India and aims to achieve production of seven million electric vehicles by 2020. This initiative has been complemented by the Government
providing demand-side incentives through its Faster Adoption & Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles in India (FAME) scheme. Private automobile players have risen to the challenge and have been investing in R&D facilities and setting up additional manufacturing units for e-Vehicles, thus changing the status of electric mobility.

Changing status of electric mobility

With the Government deciding to fund up to 60% of R&D costs for the development of indigenous low-cost electric technology, global automobile players are investing heavily in R&D in electric vehicle technologies in India. A face lift is definitely anticipated for India’s electric mobility industry with a major thrust from the Government.

The growth story of electric vehicles has been compelling and some technologically advanced economies have developed cutting-edge technologies that have given them the much-needed traction. This is in part a solution to the larger problem in hand, since electric vehicles have zero tailpipe emissions and thereby reduce the carbon footprint.

Why is it better?

Concerns surrounding climate change dictate our need to move to cleaner sources of energy, and all available evidence indicates that such energy will be harnessed in the form of electricity, and therefore it is imperative that vehicles of the future should be built to be driven using electrical energy.

Apart from emissions, electric vehicles have fewer moving parts or components and batteries with a life time of up to 15 years. This drastically reduce their maintenance costs. However, the current stabilisation phase is expected to take longer periods of time in terms of technology, battery support and charging infrastructure that need to be established pan-India.

With government schemes and Smart City projects providing a catalytic base and fostering the growing EV presence, the future looks promising. At the current rate, with the incremental changes introduced and the formulation of policies and standards on emissions, the inflection point is expected to be achieved by 2050, wherein 90% of vehicles will be electric and only 10% traditional.

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