Electric Vehicles: The sustainable future!
- Neil
- Jul 12, 2021
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 13, 2021
Electric vehicles are often regarded as being “innovative”, eco friendly, and silent. In this article, we will talk about electric vehicles (explicitly cars, two-wheelers, and rickshaws), the benefits of owning an electric vehicle, and the environmental aspect of owning an electric vehicle.
Currently, prices of fuel are becoming more and more expensive because organisations like OPEC manipulate supply of oil which in turn manipulates the price of fuel. In addition to that, the Union and state government of India add a lot of value added tax which pushes the fuel prices over the expected threshold. (this line has been corrected as the line written before was factually incorrect) This has prompted many across the world to actually consider purchasing an electric vehicle. There are certainly several advantages to having an electric vehicle which is as follows:
Environmental benefit:
By having an electric vehicle, you are using a form of transport that doesn’t emit any form of toxic emission. What many argue though, is that electric cars are actually harmful due to the fact that a lot of the electricity in India is made using coal, and electricity isn’t cheap. In my #opinion though, a country like Norway has mastered the art of electricity by making it affordable and using sustainable methods. Norway largely relies on Hydropower which makes the countries electricity affordable and sustainable, which in turn helps boost the environmental benefits of having an electric car.
Affordability:
The future of automobiles is arguably electric. As scientific and technical innovation advances, electric vehicles will become more affordable. Another aspect of how electric vehicles are affordable is the “non-reliance” on fuel which has prices constantly fluctuating (not referring to CNG). Fuel is expensive in the day and age we will live in today and hence, it will make sense to get an electric vehicle.
According to a survey conducted by Autotech firm CarDekho and Omnicom Media Group, 66% of customers are willing to buy electric vehicles, out of which 53% said they were strongly inclined to go electric. There is a very prioritised factor that is negatively influencing an individuals decision to purchase an electric car: EV charging infrastructure. Currently, there are several innovative start-ups like ChargePoint which are combining electric chargers with technologies that allow individuals to select and book a particular charging station, and estimate the time which they will spend over there. Such start-ups will boost EV infrastructure in the future and as EV’s get more popular, there will be many more companies willing to build more EV charging infrastructure across the country.
On the other hand, the Government of India is rapidly bringing out schemes that cater to offer more cash incentives for buying an electric car. It is ramping up its effort to encourage more E.V manufacturing in India. According to Reuters, the government of India plans to bring into place certain measures to encourage investment in the manufacturing sector which is expected to add” 5.8 million new jobs and yield more than USD4 billion in tax revenues over five years”.
The incentives will reportedly cater to the following aspects:
Overcoming steep interest rates
High power tariff
Power charging infra
Such measures will help boost electric car makers in their journey to make Indian vehicles electric. With measures to inspire growth in the E.V market, the government can then put more emphasis on ramping reducing electricity tariffs, and putting more emphasis on renewable energy.
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Please note that there was a factual error in the article which has now been corrected. I had referred to the rise in fuel prices due to a financial phenomenon called "inflation". The correction is that the soaring fuel prices are largely because of heavy V.A.T taxing and manipulation of supply of oil which make fuel so expensive.
Thank you for reading this article,
Neil Sudhalkar
Neil, Yet another very well articulated note. I just want to make one minor counterpoint - Fuel price causes inflation and not the other way around. So, your point about High fuel prices leading to increased demand for EVs is well made - inflation is an outcome of higher prices. In India given that Fuel has an 8-10% share in CPI and around 14% share in WPI, any increase in fuel has a cascading effect on Fuel directly and also on Food and other products that are transportation heavy. One additional point is that Oil prices will fluctuate basis demand-supply (driven by higher demand from China/US on account of economic acitivity pick up and supply side measures by Opec etc…