In the emerging electric vehicle (EV) revolution, two- and three-wheelers and buses will drive the growth over the next 6-7 years. Electric cars may have a minimum role during this period, according to a white paper on EV revolution by Energy Alternatives India (EAI), a leading cleantech research and consulting firm.

“Our study shows that exponential growth is feasible in the EV segment. But not right away. Electrification is to take place only in some selected segments over the next seven years,” said Narasimhan Santhanam, co-founder of EAI. “Based on an analysis, products that have the potential to see reasonable growth during 2018-2025 are electric scooters, electric three-wheelers, including three-wheeled small commercial trucks and electric buses,” he added.

Major challenges

As far as electric cars are concerned, several things such as range, battery systems, charging infrastructure, upfront cost are all still major challenges.

But in the case of two-wheelers, particularly scooters, the average daily distance is well within the available range, and the possibility of charging overnight at home, makes it easier for adoption.

In the case of three-wheelers, the added benefit is the lower running cost, which could be a big draw for commercial three-wheelers (especially passenger). Prices of electric three-wheelers will also be competitive with those of conventional autorickshaws. Electric buses have a range of about 130-150 km, and a speed 100 km/hour. This makes sense for local city buses. But, the big challenge is high cost. Electric buses equivalent of the luxury Volvo buses could cost 2-4 times higher than conventional equivalents.

Summit in Chennai

EAI will be organising a two-day India EV summit on “Where Innovation Meets Strategy for EVs” during August 17-18 in Chennai.

The EV Summit will strive to achieve clarity on the short and medium term growth potential of electric vehicles in India, and the business opportunities from such growth, said Santhanam.

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