look news india
India’s transportation and automobile sector has witnessed an unprecedented and historic change within the last decade, which has surprised the entire world’s automobile market. If we talk about exactly twelve years ago i.e. the beginning of the year 2014, the condition of electric vehicles i.e. EVs across the country was very pathetic and hardly only six electric vehicles were sold in a day. In that initial period, neither any solid charging infrastructure existed, nor did people have any kind of confidence in adopting this new technology towards the environment and the technology of early batteries was also not that advanced. But today’s times have completely changed and due to the visionary policies of the Government of India, promotional schemes like FAME India and the tireless efforts of the automobile companies, this daily sales figure has taken a huge leap from six and has directly crossed 6,850 units. These figures are a clear and irrefutable proof that now the common citizen of the country is rapidly shifting towards environment-friendly electric mobility by staying away from traditional petrol and diesel vehicles. The reason behind this rapid change is the increasing awareness in the country’s metropolitan cities as well as small tier-two and tier-three cities and the continuously skyrocketing prices of petrol and diesel, which have forced people to seriously understand the benefits of electric vehicles.
How was this long and struggling journey from just 6 vehicles to sales of 6,850 vehicles accomplished?
This journey of sales of electric vehicles is no less than a miraculous story, but behind it is hidden a long technological battle and a tough struggle in the manufacturing sector. When electric vehicles were formally launched in the country around the year 2014-15, the vehicles were quite expensive due to the high battery cost and their driving range was also very short, due to which customers were reluctant to buy them. At that time, electric two-wheelers and e-rickshaws were still somewhat popular, but mainstream consumers avoided even looking at four-wheeler EVs. Gradually the government started providing subsidies under the FAME scheme, promoted local manufacturing and heavy research into lithium-ion battery technology led to a significant decline in the prices of batteries. The result of all these positive changes was that domestic and foreign companies like Ola, Ather, Tata Motors, Mahindra and MG entered the Indian market with their luxurious and modern ranges. Today the situation is such that every month lakhs of electric two-wheelers, three-wheelers and four-wheelers are hitting the roads, which is not only reducing the level of pollution significantly, but the country’s foreign exchange reserves are also becoming increasingly safe due to being less dependent on crude oil imports.
Government policies, FAME scheme and unprecedented rapid development of charging infrastructure.
The biggest prerequisite for a successful transport revolution in any country is a strong and reliable infrastructure, and India has made historic progress on this front over the years. Initially, when people were afraid of buying electric vehicles because there was no option for charging if the battery ran out on the way, the government and private companies together started solving this problem on a war footing. Today, thousands of fast charging stations have been installed on every major highway of the country i.e. National Highway, Expressway, petrol pumps, big malls, housing societies and commercial parking lots, due to which range anxiety i.e. the fear of running out of battery has almost completely been eliminated from the minds of people. Additionally, the Government of India’s Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme and FAME-II and subsequent new incentives have encouraged automakers to manufacture batteries and critical EV components within the country. Due to these policy decisions, India is now not only meeting its domestic needs, but is also getting fully prepared to export affordable and modern electric vehicles to countries around the world in the coming times, which is going to prove to be a huge milestone for the country’s economy.
Increasing popularity of electric vehicles and increasing participation of Indian consumers in environmental protection.
Today’s Indian consumer has become more aware and sensitive towards the environment, and he understands that the best way to tackle serious problems like climate change and global warming is to adopt electric mobility. Toxic smoke emanating from vehicles running on petrol and diesel was continuously polluting the air of our metropolitan cities, leading to the spread of serious health diseases. In such a situation, when electric scooters and cars with great features, great pickup and low maintenance costs started becoming available in the market at affordable prices, people started preferring EVs over conventional vehicles. The cost of running an electric vehicle is only around 25 to 50 paise per kilometer, whereas the cost per kilometer of petrol vehicles is many times higher, which is why common middle class families, delivery professionals and cab drivers have now completely switched to electric vehicles. This change has not only brought relief to people’s monthly budget to a great extent, but has also started to bring a very positive and concrete result towards controlling air pollution in the big cities of the country, thereby laying a strong foundation for a clean and green future for the coming generations.
Vision of the future and India’s growing reputation in the global market and huge enthusiasm from investors.
The jump in sales of electric vehicles from 6 to 6,850 is a clear indication that India’s automobile sector has now entered a new and modern century. Globally, when analysts look at India’s growth, they call it the world’s fastest growing and largest future EV market. Big automobile companies around the world are now looking at India not just as a market but as their global manufacturing hub from where they can export electric vehicles all over the world. In the coming few years, when advanced technologies like strong charging network and solid-state batteries will be fully implemented in every corner of the country, then it will not take long for this sales figure to increase from thousands to lakhs per day. This EV revolution is proving to be the biggest weapon in fulfilling Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of net-zero carbon emissions, which is rapidly taking India on the path of making it self-reliant in the field of energy as well as making it the world leader in technology.