Home » Articles
Car Articles
Read articles on cars and car industry. Get fully updated on all information related to cars. Read exciting happening in the Indian and Global Car industry, tips to help you and more...
Old Articles
A Thought on Electric Vehicles in India
There are hundreds of advantages of using Electric Cars. They do not burn fossil fuels to generate power so they have zero emission and no pollution. They are virtually maintenance free as they have no gears, no engine, no belt or chain drive, no problem of starting and many more. In India you don't need any registration or license to drive these vehicles as they are exempted from the Central Vehicles registration act by Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI). But still they are very far from grabbing the moderate share of the commercial vehicles market. Let us examine the main obstacles that prevent electric cars from being popular in India.
What Electric Cars Can Offer
Currently India imports about 70 per cent of the fuels from abroad which is expected to rise to 82 per cent in 2012 if the rate of increase of fossil fuel powered vehicles continues this way. India can save over Rs 3700 Crore in foreign exchange if three lakhs of Electric Vehicles (EVs) comes on road by 2020. There would also be significant health cost savings as it could result in a reduction of over 16 lakhs metric tons of carbon dioxide, Nitrogen Oxide and other harmful gases.
India also has the maximum market potential for EVs owing to an established auto component infrastructure, low manufacturing and Research & Development costs. The presence of large domestic market can be a boon to the EV manufacturers. Electric vehicles can act as efficient means of transportation in congested urban and metropolitan areas where they have to stop at traffic signals again and again. They are perfect for urban residents who commute between home and office within about 30-50 km per day. The EVs can transform urban India by reducing pollution and improving public health.
India also has the maximum market potential for EVs owing to an established auto component infrastructure, low manufacturing and Research & Development costs. The presence of large domestic market can be a boon to the EV manufacturers. Electric vehicles can act as efficient means of transportation in congested urban and metropolitan areas where they have to stop at traffic signals again and again. They are perfect for urban residents who commute between home and office within about 30-50 km per day. The EVs can transform urban India by reducing pollution and improving public health.
Problems
The problems which stand as walls to adopting this type of vehicle are many. Majority of these vehicles are underpowered in performance. Charging of the batteries is inefficient and they are heavy enough to drag the performance further down. The driving range per charge is low and if you need to go a few kilometers off your regular track, you need to rethink if you would have enough charge left to drive back home. The design of the vehicles are so toyish that you can't have proud of owning an EV.
There are some other minor problems also which can be overcome as they become popular. These problems include less availability of spare parts and good skilled technicians for maintenance purpose. You need to have a magnifying glass to find the dealers of these vehicles. The prices of electric vehicles are at such a high level that you can get a good petrol model car at the same price.
Basically EVs lack the practicality and luxury that petrol/diesel powered cars have been able to offer.
There are some other minor problems also which can be overcome as they become popular. These problems include less availability of spare parts and good skilled technicians for maintenance purpose. You need to have a magnifying glass to find the dealers of these vehicles. The prices of electric vehicles are at such a high level that you can get a good petrol model car at the same price.
Basically EVs lack the practicality and luxury that petrol/diesel powered cars have been able to offer.
Ray of Hope
With inflation in the prices of fossil fuels, more people are adopting EVs as they have running costs of ten to twenty times lesser than regular vehicles. Moreover, everyone can drive these automobiles as no license or registration is needed for vehicles which has motor power less than 250W. The Government of India has also reduced the custom duty on three of the imported components in battery operated vehicles to 10 per cent though it seems too less for the price reduction of the vehicles. The manufacturers say that a reduction of 10-15 per cent of manufacturing costs will be possible if they become popular and there is a good demand of these vehicles in the market. Further research is going on the batteries and the motors to make them more efficient. The performance of the motors is expected to rise 10-20 per cent and the battery performance is expected to be twice or thrice than the present ones. So there is a good probability that more people will be adopting the EVs in near future.
India has an answer to Japanese Toyota Prius or Honda Insight in the form of REVA. The Reva Electric Car Company was established in 2001 and it is India's first electric car maker. The REVA has safety features such as steel space frame, side impact beams, dent-proof ABS body and dual braking system etc. It can run 80km on a full charge of 8 hours.
REVA has come out with two news models, the NXR and the NXG. These new models were showcased at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The Reva NXR and the NXG won huge applause for the technology and innovation used in these cars. These cars will go into production very soon.
We are expecting Toyota to launch the eco-friendly Prius next year. Moreover, Nissan is contemplating to bring in its electric cars in India in future. With the models from REVA along with the Toyota Prius, we can expect to see more electric cars in the future.
India has an answer to Japanese Toyota Prius or Honda Insight in the form of REVA. The Reva Electric Car Company was established in 2001 and it is India's first electric car maker. The REVA has safety features such as steel space frame, side impact beams, dent-proof ABS body and dual braking system etc. It can run 80km on a full charge of 8 hours.
REVA has come out with two news models, the NXR and the NXG. These new models were showcased at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The Reva NXR and the NXG won huge applause for the technology and innovation used in these cars. These cars will go into production very soon.
We are expecting Toyota to launch the eco-friendly Prius next year. Moreover, Nissan is contemplating to bring in its electric cars in India in future. With the models from REVA along with the Toyota Prius, we can expect to see more electric cars in the future.
