Steps to Building a Sustainable Ecosystem for EVs in India
India has seen a flurry of activity over the past few weeks, specifically on electric vehicles (EVs). Some official and policy setting, but mostly industrial lobbying — keeping the focus on an urgent need to step up EV capabilities and affordability in the country. Further, amongst a backdrop of daily price increases on petrol and diesel fuel to historical record highs, a result of volatile global oil prices and a steadily weakening Indian rupee — the context has become even more imperative.
Currently, the Indian EV Industry remains nascent, with primarily two electric car manufacturers, two to three commercial vehicle and bus manufacturers and a dozen or so two/three-wheeler manufacturers. Although global OEMs have presented their global prowess and showcased concepts of their EV products at the Delhi international auto shows over the last few years, they remain tentative in including India on their global EV projections.
Government Sets a Direction
An increased interest in EVs and the existing condition of the Indian EV industry necessitates, at least for the short to medium term, intervention and handholding by the government. There has been some intent in direction setting by India’s Ministry for Transport in 2017, with a statement looking at 100% electric fleet vehicles by 2030. However, with most industry experts declaring that with the prevailing capacity and lack of an integrated EV ecosystem, even around 40% conversion by 2030 would be an ambitious expectation, prospects have been subsequently moderated to a more realistic 30%.
Walking the talk, the Government of India has already gone ahead with procuring EV fleets for its officials. Tenders have also been released for supply of public transport vehicles, offering opportunities for EV automakers to industrialise emerging technologies through some initial scale secured. By the end of 2017, the government had tendered 10,000 electric cars and supply of electric buses for 11 Indian cities, albeit with mixed results experienced on their delivery.
Opportunities with Public Transport
From the tone of more recent announcements, it is apparent that India’s growth in EVs is going to be focused initially on public transportation requirements — electric buses, two and three-wheelers and fleet cars. Personal vehicle options for EVs, by comparison, will require further development, assurances and accessibility to a reliable infrastructure and broader ecosystem.
Evidently, a significant opportunity has been identified within the commercial segment of two/three wheelers, such as delivery bikes and last mile connectivity transportation, which have short and frequent high-daily runs, as the precursor for popularising e-vehicles. Given their relatively lower and limited inter-city range requirements, this specific two/three-wheeler segment represents the highest potential for achieving proliferation of EVs in the country, including remote areas, with minimal basic charging setups.
Collaboration: Key to Building the EV Ecosystem
Automakers, battery manufacturers, suppliers, dealers and power utilities are now scrambling to understand how to make all this work for themselves. The critical need, however, is for these stakeholders to huddle and collaborate with a singular purpose to establish a sustainable EV ecosystem in the country. Co-dependency, partnerships and alliances will be an encouraging and natural outcome of EV development in the coming years. Several foreign collaborations and associations between OEMs, battery producers and other suppliers have already been established and more can be expected in the future.
Some significant recent cooperation announcements include the partnership between start-up Sun Mobility and India’s leading bus and truck manufacturer, Ashok Leyland, for supporting electric buses through a network of swapping-battery stations named Quick Interchange Stations (QIS), where users will pay only for the energy stored in the battery and not the battery itself. Earlier this month, Suzuki and Toyota announced forming an alliance for readying a host of electric and hybrid vehicles for the Indian market by 2020–21, signifying Suzuki’s aspiration to also be the leader in the EV category in the country. These partnerships are just the beginning and a demonstration of things to come as the EV ecosystem takes definite shape.
