A route map for our country to attain a future of clean mobility

Context: Rapid technological evolution is driving the shift towards shared, connected, and zero emissions transportation systems around the world.

Technical Achievements in clean mobility:

• Vehicle battery technology: Prices have fallen by almost 84% in the last decade. Various types of batteries include -
  • Solid-state batteries: such as non-flammable aluminium air and zinc air ones have high thresholds of temperature tolerance.
  • Solid ion battery: built on the abundantly available sodium metal, acts as an alternative to lithium (and it charges almost five times faster than Li-ion).
  • Flow batteries: are vanadium- and ferrous-based, perfect for grid storage.
• Internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles vs Electric vehicles:
  • Parity in the cost of ownership: has been achieved in all vehicle segments within a five-year time span.
  • Alternative ownership models: Such as battery-swapping, have brought the cost of EVs on par with, if not below, internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.

Government’s efforts:

• Production-Linked Incentive scheme: Marked out an outlay of ?18,100 crore for advanced chemistry cell batteries. It will battery manufacturing ecosystem in the country.
• Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME-2): Under phase 2, as many as 2,636 charging stations across the country and 5,595 electric buses have been sanctioned
• Tax incentives:
  • Reduction in Goods and Services Tax: on EV, from 18% to 5%.
  • Income-tax deduction: of Rs 1.5 lakh, to speed up the transition from ICE vehicles to EVs.
• Exempted customs duty: on certain parts of EVs and capital goods used in the manufacture of Li-ion.
• Draft for amending building code and town planning rules: to let EV-charging stations be provided in private and commercial buildings.
• A concessionaire agreement (by NITI Aayog): for public-private partnerships in the operation and maintenance of electric buses in cities on the operating expenditure (OPEX) model.
• 15 states have come up with EV policies—including incentives such as single-window clearance, stamp duty waiver, and incentivized land and electricity.
• Done away with the mandatory requirement of spare tyres in cars: which would provide extra space for EV batteries.

Way forward:

• Focus on moving people rather than vehicle: Through public transportation and its electrification instead of personal mobility.
• Identify the crucial segments: which includes two-and-three wheelers and buses – (India is the world’s largest two- and three-wheeler manufacturer and second largest bus manufacturer).
• Harmonize efforts with the Indian information technology (IT) industry as the electric mobility revolution is driven by power electronics, artificial intelligence and automation.
  • Open-source battery management systems: Could be one area the sector could explore in support of the EV revolution.

Conclusion: Exceeding targets for renewable energy generation along with the adoption of EVs, will help achieve a cleaner environment.