Electric Vehicles

India  has negligible quantity of oil and therefore imports most of its it. With the number of transport vehicles increasing continuously, oil imports will only increase. At  the same time, cities in India are highly congested and these vehicles add significantly to the pollution.

It is therefore imperative for India to move to Electric vehicles as soon as possible. India  has enough non-peak hour electric power and can use solar power during the day to charge Electric vehicles. This would also enable India to flatten its power consumption, helping Power industry significantly.

Affordabitlity

The question is, “Are we ready with Electric vehicle technology?  Can India afford them?” We  need Volumes and we need R&D to drive down the cost of electric vehicles. With time the cost of EV will come down while the cost of IC engine vehicles will go up.  Similarly, with some innovation in Battery Systems, the cost/km of running an electric vehicle could be far less than that for oil based IC engine vehicles .

How do we get there?

While Government and industry would drive volumes, what is needed is some serious  joint academia-industry R&D for electrical batteries, electrical motors, vehicle air conditioners, battery chargers and motor controllers. In less than 5 years, EVs will be cheaper than petrol vehicles and will take-off.

Research

IIT Madras is taking a lead in carrying out such Research and Development . It is setting up a Centre for Battery Engineering and EV to help India realize this goal at the earliest. While Mahindra Auto, ABB and TI are the cosponsor for the center and many more industries are willing to work with it, Department of Heavy Industry is in the process of finalizing its grant.

Getting there..

Hon. Minister for Power, Coal, New and Renewable energy and Mines Shri. Piyush Goyal laid the foundation stone for the Centre for Battery Engineering and Electric Vehicles at IIT Madras on 15th Jul 2016.

Researchers at this centre will work on improved battery technologies to increase driving range and decrease recharging time, weight, and cost. These factors will ultimately determine the future of EVs.