Issues with EVs, and possible hybrid solution

Source: This post has been created based on the article “Issues with EVs, and possible hybrid solution” published in “Indian Express” on 31^st January 2024.

UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 3 – Energy – Environment – Conservation

News: The article discusses the benefits of hybrid vehicles in India’s decarbonisation journey. It also highlights the challenges in the faster adoption of Battery EVs.

What are hybrid vehicles?

Hybrid vehicles have both an internal combustion engine (running on fossil fuels) and an electric motor (running on clean electric energy).

What are the benefits of hybrid vehicles?

Hybrids are the more practical medium-term solution for India’s decarbonisation efforts because:

1) Less Polluting: According to research, currently overall carbon emissions are lower in hybrids compared to both electrics and petrol/diesel vehicles. For instance, a hybrid is at least 16% less polluting than the corresponding EV.
This is because a vehicle emits not just tailpipe emissions, but also emissions from crude mining, refining, and power generation as well.

2) Less Costly: Hybrids are also beneficial from the cost-of-ownership perspective.

What are the issues with Battery Electric Vehicles?

1) Issues with Upfront Subsidy: The experience in Norway, USA and China shows that the electric push works only through state subsidies. However, the problem is that it will benefit mostly the middle or upper middle classes, who usually buy four-wheeler BEVs.

2) Charging Infrastructure: India has only about 2,000 public charging stations currently. India also faces a unique challenge in building charging infrastructure because two- and three-wheelers’ charging infrastructure is different from four-wheelers.

3) Electricity Source: In India, the energy grid is still mostly dependent on coal-fired thermal plants. This means India is effectively using fossil fuels to power EVs, thus the objective of lowering emissions will not be achieved.

4) Supply Chain Vulnerabilities: More than 90% of global Li production is concentrated in a handful of countries, which is also the case for other key inputs such as cobalt and nickel. Thus, there is a need to diversify India’s dependency on Li-ion batteries in the EV mix.

Question for practice:

What are the issues with Battery Electric Vehicles? How can hybrid vehicles help tackle these challenges?