KOCHI: While the state government has set the ball rolling with its forward-looking Electric Vehicle Policy (EVP), industry bodies are concerned over the government standardising parameters which might curtail the cycle of innovations in the fast-evolving hybrid/electric vehicle space in the country. The EVP promotes the use of ‘Swappable Batteries’ option rather than varying capacity of fixed batteries in a vehicle, which is the global norm.
It is reported the government is looking at just a Bengaluru-based battery manufacturing company which is trying to offer ‘Replaceable Batteries’ (Mobile Battery on the Go), rather than throwing open the field for competing firms to offer the best solution to customers.
Welcoming the framework, finance, and policy expert Mukesh Malhotra said incentives and promotion by the government should be technology agnostic. “A policy should aim at creating a robust infrastructure for a facilitative EV environment and let the market decide what best technology to adopt. This will lead to fair choices to customers and sustainable EV transition,” said Mukesh. Experts believe converting the entire fleet to electric by 2030 will be a difficult task, given the technology, which is fast evolving, and its universal adoption will take decades.
Industry bodies highlight sub-par quality batteries use will lead to more dumping of these batteries in landfills across India in huge numbers. Another aspect is the safety issue while swapping of batteries, its performance and warranty. John Paul, MD, Popular Motors, said as electric vehicle technology is evolving rapidly therefore, the policy will need to be necessarily adaptive while at the same time must not bring sudden changes. “The policy should ensure that necessary transformation takes place with the minimum disruption which may have socio-economic impact in terms of industrial growth, employment and livelihood of people in the auto industry,” said John.
Analysts say the policy makers have been overlooked as well as the recommendations made by SIAM (Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers) and analyst firm KPMG, which had mentioned categorically that world over, swappable battery option has been a failure and even the Central Government expressed its reluctance to go ahead with the scheme.
It is learnt the Bengaluru-based company working towards swappable battery is proposing to offer this service pan India, which means any consumer travelling anywhere in the country needs to keep replacing the exhausted battery with a recharged battery and drive to the next point. The company also proposes to have an app, with which customers can be informed of the time to replace the existing battery at the nearest bunk.
With no fixed battery in a vehicle, another question being asked is, will the cost of lithium-ion battery fall with this OPEX (operational expenditure)-based model? The cost of a battery in a modern EV constitutes 40-50 per cent of the total cost. The response reported is the customer needs to pay for the battery at the time of buying the vehicle and pay for the kilometres he clocks in his vehicle. The industry sources have appealed to the government to use its resources to create fast charging stations for all types of vehicles rather than setting up swapping stations.
EV dream takes wings at CIAL
Kochi: At a time when the state government has unveiled the Electric Vehicle Policy (EVP), the Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) has gone a step further by making its carport ready to charge 81 electric vehicles at a time, a facility perhaps no other airport in the country could boast of. Also, CIAL is planning to switch over its fleet of cars to electric ones over a period of time. Officials said the airport has already bought an EV by Mahindra. There are about 30 cars in CIAL, all of which will be phased out, and new EVs will be bought, making it an airport fully-powered by EVs.
The airport has two carports, which can house a total of 2,600 cars. Of this, the international carport has the facility for charging the EVs, officials said. “The international carport is operational for charging about 81 EVs,” said an official. The CIAL’s carports can generate 5.1 MW, claimed to the biggest solar power generator via a carport in the airport, followed by Weeze International Airport in Germany, which produces 4.1 MW, said officials. CIAL generates a total of 40 MW via solar power, and it is the first fully solar-powered airport in the world.