With growing awareness about global warming and climate change, there is constant ongoing research in the science community to find better, eco-friendly alternatives to pre-existing technologies. Increasing carbon emissions from automobiles has paved the way for electric vehicles.
What is an EV?
EV’s are vehicles that operate partially or fully by using electricity rather than gas (petrol or diesel) Let’s analyze the scope and feasibility of electric vehicles in India’s consumer market from a buyer’s perspective.
Currently, there are two types of electric vehicles available for consumers to buy:
BEVs (Battery electric vehicles): These are vehicles that run solely on power generated from electricity, stored in batteries that need to be recharged.
HEVs (Hybrid electric vehicles): These vehicles are not pure electricity-based, but operate with a combination of gas and electricity.
We bring to you a simple mathematical comparison between the economic value of an Electrical vehicle and a normal ICE vehicle.
Considering an average of 145 Km/week on an average traveling
Turns out to be, the Economic value of EV crosses the petrol vehicle in 647 days which is almost close to 2 years while the average life of Li-Battery is around 5 years. To check out the whole calculations click here.
(The exact value of Breakeven would depend on the model of vehicles, its regularity of use, cost of Petrol and Electricity in the particular area among other factors)
Why EV over gas?
For one, EVs help us reduce carbon emissions and give us a start in fighting climate change.
What if you really are not concerned about our environment? You should just go and buy a gas vehicle, right? Wrong. EVs are overall a better investment decision than gas vehicles. Let me break it down for you.
With gas prices constantly increasing, EVs are much cheaper to operate because they are just that much efficient than the gas ones. If we compare head-on, the cost to charge an EV per kilometer is one-third the cost of fuel per km for a gas vehicle on an average.
EVs internal build is generally much simpler and easier to maintain than their gas counterparts. Less moving parts, less servicing, more savings.
If you still aren’t convinced that EVs are the way forward, ask the government. With tight deadlines set for the automobile industry, the Indian government is serious about EVs. By getting an EV over a gas vehicle right now, you will be future-proof.
Why shouldn’t you buy an EV over gas?
The charging infrastructure and the charging network is still in a developing stage. Considering the huge network of gas pumps built over the years, it would be frustrating to find a charging station in case you need a quick recharge.
With EVs starting to bloom and many automobile manufacturers jumping into the wagon, EVs are expected to get cheaper and equipped with better technology with time. Considering this, it might seem wise to wait for the market to mature a little bit.
If we compare EVs and gas vehicles in terms of the range offered on a full charge/refill, gas vehicles offer a much larger range.
Should you buy one?
Yes and no. The government’s future plans and a long-awaited disruption in a rather mature automobile industry indicate that EVs are the way forward. Contrary to popular belief that EVs are more expensive than gas vehicles is not true, in fact, EVs are cheaper than gas vehicles of comparable powers. But as of now, there are very few EVs in the market, most of them in the premium segment of the market which accounts for only 2% of the automobile market in India. The technology needed to manufacture EVs is only expected to get cheaper with time and we’ll see EVs entering into the budget segments of the market. EVs are a great investment decision but it is understandable why one might wait for a few more years before considering purchasing an EV. In India, electrical energy is primarily produced by burning coal, which produces an enormous quantity of greenhouse emissions. Moreover, India’s Distribution companies possess debts and are ineffective to serve the energy demand of the whole country adequately. If EVs were to enter this equation, the abrupt increase in electricity requirement would put extra load on these companies. We also have seen a slowdown in the Auto segment, while there are 2000 movable parts in an ICE there are less than 20 in EV which would be a disruption in the Ancillary sector as well.
With increasing momentum of Govt. pushing towards Electric Vehicles by means of different subsidies, cutting of taxes and the huge opportunity of Electric Vehicles starting to get used in fleet operations (like Uber to bring down Breakeven time), the grass does seem to be greener on the other side fr Electric Vehicles.
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