About Electric Vehicles and their position in India

Electric vehicle is the new hot topic in India today ever since Tesla set up it’s headquarter in the country. Let’s explore about them in this article. So, what basically is an electric vehicle?

An electric vehicle (abbreviated EV) is a vehicle which operates on an electric motor instead of an internal combustion engine that uses a mixture of gases and fuel. It may contain it’s own battery, solar panels and fuel cells or it may be powered by electricity from some other vehicles. The batteries used in EV’s are rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.

History of electric vehicles

EV’S first came into picture in the mid-19th century, when electricity was one of the methods for motor vehicle’s existence. In 1827, the first viable electric motor was invented. In 1838, an electric locomotive was invented which could attain a speed of 6 km/hr.

The first mass-produced electric vehicles appeared in America in the early 1900’s. But, due to the abundance of battery storages and manufacturing of cheap fuel vehicles by Ford, they didn’t gain much popularity at that time. But the EV’s were starting to come into the lives of people.

Types of Electric Vehicles

Various types include Ground electric vehicles powered exclusively through electric motors, hybrid electric vehicles having a internal combustion engine with an electric engine, plug in electric vehicles that can be recharged from an external source of electricity such as wall sockets, Range-extended electric vehicles powered by an electric motor and a plug in battery and many more.

Properties of Electric vehicles

There can be different sources of energy like direct connection of electric vehicles to generation Plants as common in electric trains and online electric vehicle or Onboard generators used in diesel-electric locomotives which generate electricity on board using a diesel engine.

Electric vehicles use about 59 to 62 percent of the electricity consumed from the power output to move the vehicle. That is quite a good percentage compared to petrol and diesel vehicles.

They take many hours to charge from conventional power outlets or charging stations, but after being fully charged, they can run upto long distances.

These vehicles are very powerful. In fact, electric vehicle company Tesla’s model X car can pull a BOEING 787 plane!

Instead of replacing the battery, it is possible to replace the entire chassis (including the batteries, electric motors and wheels) of an electric modular vehicle.

Why buy an electric vehicle?

Though some studies show that there is enough fossil fuel for the coming generations, but still it’s amount is limited and at some day, it will be exhausted. Then how transportation would happen? One of the answers is electric vehicles. It is like a one-time investment where you don’t have to worry about what would happen with fossil fuels in the future.

EV’s are eco-friendly as they does not create air pollution and fight against the climatic change by not producing carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas responsible for global warming. In fact, Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk has the ambition of making world a sustainable place with the use of EV’s.

Role of Tesla in popularizing EV’s

Tesla Inc. is a leading company in electric car sales . It produces EV’s for people who expect strong performances from their cars and thus has contributed to the popularity of electric vehicles. It’s battery is most efficient among all the EV’s making companies with the maximum range of 370 miles on a single full charge. Tesla has built up supercharger networks where charging is not just quick, but is is free also.

Tesla recently set up a headquarter in the country at Bengaluru, aiming to attract the Indian people and enter into the Indian market.

Impact on Indian Market

The Indian government has adopted several policies to begin the rise of electric vehicles in India. In 2013, India unveiled the ‘National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020’ to make a major shift to electric vehicles. In 2017, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari made a statement showing India’s intent to move to 100 per cent electric cars by 2030. But later, the government changed the plan from 100 per cent to 30 per cent.

Indian car companies like Tata and Mahindra have started to manufacture electric vehicles for the Indian people. However, till date, there has been a very little demand of electric vehicles in the country because of it’s high price comparable to fossil fuel vehicles. Tesla’s Model Y car, cheapest of the 4 Tesla cars expected to be launched in India in the present and upcoming years , costs around $37000 or Rs. 27 lakh Indian Rupees.

Future of electric vehicles in India

Electric vehicles are slowly on their way to have a bright future in India. The growth in EV’s and Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV’s) is climbing, thanks to the positive approach shown by the Indians towards EV’s. Experts say that the biggest market in EV segment is going to be 2-wheelers, as they play a huge role in the country’s overall portion of vehicles.

In my opinion, EV’s should develop a good market especially in a country like India where air pollution is a huge problem, but their current cost is a problem.

If companies like Tata and Mahindra, who make cars at a low price, start manufacturing more electric vehicles in the upcoming years, then more Indians can have access of the future vehicles of the world.