How can India prepare for an EV revolution? – EQ Mag Pro

The petroleum-based vehicle industry remains a dominant player in the automobile industry, but with rising concerns about fossil fuels and global warming, clean vehicles like electric vehicles are gaining popularity.

The growth of electric vehicles is linked to the development of battery technologies that power them. However, these batteries have high market value due to their regulatory restrictions that limit manufacturers from building large capacities at lower prices.

Governments, huge organizations, startups, and investors in India have all expressed their commitment to an electric mobility future in the previous five years. By 2030, the Indian government wants 30 per cent of private cars, 70 per cent of commercial vehicles, and 80 per cent of two and three-wheelers to be electric.

The EV industry is growing rapidly, but it faces several challenges. In order to achieve its full potential, manufacturers will need to overcome the current lack of infrastructure for charging stations, supply-chain issues and many other operational concerns that are currently holding back the industry’s growth. According to the Vahan Portal, the total number of registered EVs in India across vehicle types stands at 9.13 lakhs in January 2022. Further, two-wheelers accounted for 49 per cent of all EVs sold in 2021-22, followed by three-wheelers, which accounted for approximately 45 per cent.

E-mobility is gaining traction in India due to its eco-friendly features and comparatively lower total cost of ownership. With the industry rapidly shifting gears towards EV adoption, companies such as Godrej Tooling, are looking to develop tools and dies for new engines, battery boxes and high-strength, low-weight sheet metal parts. They are also adopting 3D printing and additive manufacturing to develop high-precision dies for components with complex geometry to meet higher functional standards.

Public charging stations are not available in most places and the charging process is very time-consuming. There is no standardization across vehicle manufacturers, which leads to incompatibility between chargers and batteries. In addition, because of their high cost, EV batteries are often reused several times instead of being recycled.

In terms of EV charging infrastructure, India is likely to have around 8,000 AC and DC fast chargers built across the country, as well as 6,000-7,000 chargers at homes and offices. India could have done better, but it was a typical chicken-and-egg situation at the time. Because of the high cost of the battery and a lack of charging choices, infrastructure was not being invested in, and vehicle OEMs were not investing.

Concessional power pricing for EV charging has been introduced in several states. Depending on the state, these reduced charges range from Rs 5 to Rs 7. As a result, the cost of charging has decreased dramatically, and more EV charging infrastructure has been installed. However, there is still a long way to go until EV charging infrastructure catches up to the penetration of gas stations (over 78,000), and there are other major concerns that need to be addressed, including the role of electricity distribution firms (discoms), among others.

Electric vehicle batteries can both store and discharge energy back into the grid. This is known as vehicle to grid (V2G), and it occurs when a vehicle begins to store energy and then returns it to the grid.

We must now prepare power distribution utilities, which will necessitate the deployment of smart-charging technologies, managed EV charging, and improvement of the power distribution grid. For example, in many states, it is observed that to get a 100 kW sanctioned load, you will need to install an additional distribution transformer, which will cost Rs 10-11 lakh. Increasing the CapEx by another Rs 10-12 lakh at a time when EV sales are still in the early stages renders the entire charging business unviable. This implies utilities must get smarter about how to get the grid EV ready first by optimizing the power that is already available on the grid, which includes smart charging.

State-led electric vehicle adoption regulations, incentives, and charging networks are crucial for EV growth in the country. A talent revolution is also required. We will be able to encourage the country’s greatest individuals to be inspired by a new generation of technology, design, and economic excellence by generating the correct market possibilities. To make EVs work best for greener cities and more scalable public transportation and logistics, public-private collaboration is essential.

When it comes to integrating renewables into the grid, energy storage becomes critical. You can’t green your energy mix without storage. The importance of storage rises to the top of the priority list. Second, to address storage difficulties, many discoms are experimenting with distributed renewable energy generation sources at the last mile. In India, residential societies can become EV-ready by following the concepts of the ‘rate-based formula’ and dividing the cost of an EV charger and grid upgrade among all inhabitants. Improving systemic efficiency is also necessary to become EV ready, which would need the use of smart-charging technology by these power utilities.

The electric vehicle revolution provides a significant opportunity for discoms to build charging infrastructure. They also benefit from the fact that they already have access to sites, which reduces the required upfront capital cost. However, as PSUs such as EESL and others have demonstrated, charging station usage rates are still relatively low. Last year, the utilization rate was in the range of 8% to 10%. We need to aggregate demand in order to grow the ecosystem and obtain more from private companies in order to attain the 2.9 million EV chargers threshold by 2030.

Electric vehicle charging has evolved into a real estate and infrastructure game. It’s all about locating the chargers and installing them. The availability of real estate and electricity infrastructure is the current difficulty and a stumbling block that we are currently encountering. It slows down the construction of charging stations. This is a problem that affects not only India but the entire world. Apart from this, a seamless supply chain for EV components is also the need of the hour. However, we should be able to remedy these issues in the coming years. The future must be electrified for India to ignite and lead the next mobility revolution.

Source: PTI