Should I buy EV? Will it be beneficial?

Though we are aware of the problems of fossil fuel and the benefits of EV, still we are skeptical to adopt the change. After all this is human nature to resist any change at the first place. Always we have the hesitation in my – Should I buy EV? Will it be really beneficial or just wastage or time and will add lot of pain in our life. Here comes the role of our Global leaders who sets the platform for gradual transformation. Almost all the major countries have joined hands and agreed to push EV adoption. EV30@30 is a pledge taken to remain focused on this goal.

Countries across the globe have various interim targets to achieve the end objective of zero emission vehicles.

• Norway2025 – By 2025 Norway targets to achieve 100 per cent ZEV (Zero Emission Vehicles) sales country
• The US has set an ambitious target to make half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 zero emission vehicles [As per statement released by White House on 5-Aug-2021]
• India pledges to be net zero by 2070. Details of interim targets follows:

Roadmap Target set by India for EV adoption

To achieve a goal, deadline and measurement criteria are very important. So, Government of India aims (EV30@30) to have EV sales accounting to 30% of total private car sales, 70% of commercial vehicles, 80% for two or three wheelers and 40% for buses by the year 2030.

Govt initiatives to push EV sales

The following are some of the initiatives taken up by Government of India to promote EV adoption

• Govt. is providing upfront incentives to EV owners. Central and State Governments have come up with various fiscal and non-fiscal incentives which includes
  • Upfront capital subsidy under FAME India Scheme Phase II – Rs 15,000 per KWh of battery capacity (up to 40 per cent of the vehicle cost) is offered for a two-wheeler (e-scooter or e-bike).
  • For electric four wheelers, Govt. is offering an incentive of Rs10,000 per KWh of battery capacity up to Rs 1.5 lakh
  • Reduction of Goods and Service Tax (GST) from 12% to 5% which will reduce the tax burden on the buyer.
• EV owners can claim income tax deduction up to Rs 150,000 under section 80EEB for interest on loans taken for first-time purchase of EVs.
• In August 2021, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had issued a notification exempting EVs from paying fees for issue or renewal of registration certificates.
• Various State Governments also came up with their plan to push EV sales. To get a state wise details, you can refer to Subsidy on Electric Vehicles: State-wise EV Subsidies List (ackodrive.com)

Various plans to cope up with EV battery charging issues

• Owner may set up charging station at home or office using their existing electrical connection – This can handle the charging issue to a large extent as end of day owner can leave the vehicle for charging to be ready to use the next morning.
• BaaS (Battery as a Service) – The cost of Lithium-ion battery is very high, so in case of battery replacement, it is an additional burden on the car owner. To solve this issue, Govt. is encouraging Battery as a Service, where you are not required to own the battery but will just use it on lease. This will reduce the car price and eliminate the tension of replacing the battery
• Battery Swapping – This will speed up charging of batteries. As full charging of a battery can take up to 30 mins even with the fastest charging station, car owner can take a full charged one replacing the old battery which will be eventually charged and handed over to someone else. This will be a fast solution however feasibility test is needed.

What can be the Solution to reduce infrastructure cost?

• According to EconomicTimes report on Nov 15, 2019, Magenta Power has tied up with Lodha Group to install end to end electric mobility charging station within the latter’s realty projects in Dombivli and Thane under the name of ChargeGrid Pro Chargers. This is very helpful for day to day use as car owners can leave the car plugged in overnight to get it fully charged so that they are ready the next morning before they leaving for work.
• DLF has tied up with EV Motors and ABB India in developing public EV Charging outlet.
• The above solution can work for those living in large housing complexes. But what about others? Ubitricity, a German company, suggested to use existing infrastructure like lamp post as charging point. This can also be considered as if such points can be set up at parking locations and marked exclusively for EV, then while owners park their car, it will get recharged to some extent till they are back.
• IOCL is planning to convert few of their petrol pumps in Hyderabad into EV Charging station as pilot case study. This will be implemented selecting 2 from the current fleet of petrol pumps. If it is successful, then gradually more and more pumps will be targeted.
• Gogoro, a Taiwan based company proposes battery swapping which is already discussed.
• In Vienna, electric bus is connected to overhead wire and being charged all the way. This is similar to tram in Kolkata.
• Flash charge (tested by IIT Madras) where high speed charger and are placed at regular interval in bus stops where bus gets charged while passenger boards bus.
• Tata Power has tied with Apollo Tyres Ltd. to set up more charging stations in their CV and PV Zones.

Current penetration of Electric Mobility in various countries

In 2020,

• China sold 1 million Electric car (less than 10% of total vehicles registered in 2020)
• US sold around 250,000 Electric cars which contributes around 2.5% of the total car registered in the year
• In Germany around 16% of total cars sold are EV
• In each of France and UK, this share is around 12% of the total sales
• Norway, which has a target of 100% ZEV by 2025, has achieved 75% which is really good
• In Sweden EV sales is around 30% of total sales
• In 2020, EVs sold in India contributes just 0.77% of total vehicles registered.

Though the above figures are discouraging except for Norway, but if we look at the increase in EV penetration in India over a period of 5 years (2015 – 2020), then there is a CAGR of 133% which is really good.

Nearly 6.5 million electric vehicles (which includes fully electric and plugin hybrid cars) were sold Worldwide in 2021 which is up by 9 per cent compared to 2020 sales according to economictimes.

Car Manufacturer – Global EV (BEV and BHEV) Sales ranking – H1 2020 vs H1 2021

Tesla tops the list with total sales of EV. The EV sales growth is 118% comparing H1 2020 with H1 2021

VW has 168% Electric Vehicle sales growth comparing H1 2020 with H1 2021 and is second in the list in terms of total EV sales.

GM saw an EV sales growth of 571 per cent and is third in terms of total EV sales.

Indian car maker Tata Motors though registered a very less number of EV sales but have seen 108% EV sales growth which is a good sign.

As EV sales expects an exponential growth, so is EV automobile company stocks. So good luck and keep focus on latest development.

So should I buy EV?

Looking at all the above points, if I have a plan to buy a new car, then definitely I will look for EV considering some points as mentioned below.

Though the initial investment is high but owning to low runtime cost and other monetary incentives, it will be profitable in long run. Again I have to consider the usage as well. If I am using my car very rarely then it will not be profitable.

But for those who are driving driving within the city almost every day may be for 60-80KM, buying an EV will definitely be a good decision. Again you have to locate some charging facility either in office or home or any battery swapping facility within your route.

For long drive, I would say still we do not have maturity to take an EV for long drive on Indian Highway where I hardly saw any charging station or battery swapping facility. In fact while on long drive, you cannot spend time for getting your battery recharging even with the current high power chargers. So in this scenario, we need battery as a service facility to come into play.