Powering ahead in the future

Synopsis: Electric vehicles show great future. But the sellers of two-wheeler are showing reluctance in implementing electric vehicles module. We need to identify and overcome the problems. 

Introduction 

Regarding two-wheeler electrification in India, things are in the right direction. And their sales in India are likely to at least double in 2021 compared with 2020 levels. 

But even if that happens, Electric 2-Wheelers (E2Ws) will account for less than 1% of new two-wheeler sales.   This is due to the fact that most of the industry leaders in the two-wheeler segment are showing reluctance in offering electric vehicles. 

What is the present scenario wrt E2Ws in India?

Presently, several things are going right for the electric two wheeler electrification in India.

First, the government has increased the FAME-II incentives for electric two-wheelers (E2W) to ₹15,000/kWh.  

Second, more States such as Gujarat and Maharashtra have announced State-level electric vehicle incentives as part of their state policies.  

Third, many startups are launching new electric two-wheeler models.  

Despite all that, two wheeler manufacturers are dsiplaying hesitance in pushing E2Ws in the market.

How we can overcome reluctance? 

We can overcome this problem in two ways.  

Establish a zero emission vehicles (ZEV) credit programme. This requires manufacturers of vehicles to ensure that either a certain fraction of their sales are ZEVs or that they purchase ZEV credits from manufacturers who have sold more ZEVs than required by the credit programme. India can set up such programme through regulatory approaches. California and several U.S. States as well as China have used such an approach. 

Stringent standards: If CO₂ standards are sufficiently stringent, mainstream manufacturers can introduce electric vehicles in meaningful numbers. 

What are the advantages of using E2Ws? 

E2W are cost effective on total cost of ownership basis today, and likely to reach upfront cost parity later this decade.

E2W will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

It will also pave the way for India to transition completely to E2W across all two-wheeler segments by 2035. 

Source: This post is based on the article “Powering ahead in the future” published in The Hindu on 15^th September 2021.