It’s time we switched to electric engines

India has one of the largest transport systems in the world, and is heavily dependent on petroleum products to run it.  A report by the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell says the transport sector alone consumes 70 per cent of diesel and 99.6 per cent of petrol in the country.  Having to meet the huge demand from the sector, it imported 189.24 MMT of crude oil valued at Rs 864,875crore in 2013-14.

Although by the turn of the 20th century 20 per cent of the world market and 38 per cent of American automobiles were powered by electricity, the worldwide discoveries of large petroleum reserves made IC engine-based vehicles cheaper to operate over long distances, and electric vehicles lost their importance.

But today, the automobile Industry is at a crossroads. The I-C engine dominated transport sector is slowly shifting to electric mobility once again, thanks to the highly volatile crude oil market and its environmental vulnerability. And  now the new generation EVs are expected to replace the IC engine- based vehicles in future.

The National Electric Mobility Mission Plan 2020 launched in 2013, is meant to encourage reliable, affordable and efficient EVs (x-EVs) that meet customer performance and price expectations through government - industry collaboration. It also aims to make India emerge as a leader in the EV two-wheeler and four-wheeler market by 2020, with total xEV sales of 6-7 million units.

EVs , which adopt various technologies, are mainly categorised as hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), extended range electric vehicles (Er-EV) and battery electric vehicles (BEV).

While customers are apprehensive about the initial cost, battery replacement cost and the reliability of the technology,  many are not aware that the maintenance cost of EVs is one-third  of IC engine vehicles. Battery costs are also expected to fall  from $650 – $1,000 today to $400 – $700 in 2015 and to $300 – $500 in 2020, with some projections for 2020 going even as low as $150 per kWh.

A moderately prized indigenous vehicle that can travel 150 km without recharge can revolutionise the transport sector. For this, the government can bring out certain regulations such as:

The second car in every house must be electric

Incentivise manufacturers to invest in EV technology

Follow the French government's plan to purchase 50,000 EVs

Adopt Indianapolis's policy to purchase only plug-in vehicles for the non-police municipal fleet by 2025.

Such high-volume purchases can accelerate economies of scale, and achieve the national target.

(Authors are from the Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship Albertian Institute of Science and Technology, Kalamasserry)