The cars and SUV’s launched by the big brands like Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Mercedes Benz, Tata Motors, Mahindra &Mahindra (M&M), Renault, MG Motors, Kia, Skoda, Volkswagen and others may have been the visible stars but the real stars were probably the many electric two-wheelers ranging from tiny pedal-assisted bi-wheelers to very attractive motorcycles and scooters.
The fact that many of these, being offered by several quite small, previously unheard of manufacturers, indicates that they, like the electric rickshaws, or eRics, are quite easy to make using a number of easy to assemble bought out parts like motors, lighting kits, suspension systems, etc., in small plants with little investment.
Just as the eRics, mostly made in a number of small garage workshops, have quietly revolutionized India’s urban transport we are likely to soon see the trusty old pedal bicycles being replaced by numerous electric 2-wheelers as has already happened in most areas of China.
In China, millions of small eBikes, capable of a maximum speed of 20-kmph can be driven without driving licenses and make local transportation effortless and cheap.
They will similarly be a great boon to many poorer commuters in India and thus open up a huge market. With China’s quiet head start it is not surprising that most of these bought out kits are being imported from China who owns or controls most of the lithium sources of the world making them the global leader in auto electrification that depends on lithium-ion batteries.
Several new electric cars that include an ePolo from Volkswagen with a range of 500 kms was showcased and will soon be launched. India’s biggest automaker Maruti Suzuki will also launch a stylish new EV called Futuro –e and M&M will soon launch an eKUVand eXUV300while Tata Motors will have a bigger e saloon to pair with their eNexon SUV.
Renault had a large electric Symboiz and a small electric Zoe. China’s biggest auto major Great Wall displayed their Vision 2025 SUV and a small R1.
There were, of course many updates of conventional cars like the popular Hyundai CretaSUV and a bigger new SUV. Maruti Suzuki also showcased their new VitaraBrezza with a 1500 cc petrol engine. Maruti has announced that it will discontinue all diesel engines from April 2020.
The long charging time and limited driving range of Lithium ion batteries remains a problem but an important development was the technologies of battery switching where long distance trucks and other vehicles need not waste time charging their batteries but can go to switching stations where spent batteries can be quickly replaced by fully charged batteries.
When these expensive batteries are leased instead of purchased it is much more financially attractive particularly when the cost of energy per kilometer is about 15 per cent of the cost of diesel. It will be some time before we see these winds of change in our lives but we have to recognize that an eRevolution is beginning to occur.
But the technological revolution will not stop with electric vehicles because there is also great research being done on using hydrogen to power conventional internal combustion engines as well as fuel cell technologies to directly convert hydrocarbon fuels into electricity.
Also being examined is propulsion from a vastly advanced version of the good old steam engine. Billions of dollars are being spent on such research and we can be sure that these will quite soon change our means of mobility. The time needed for each technological innovation is getting shorter and change will come with surprising speed.