Power Minister RK Singh on Monday emphasised that there is a need to shift away from lithium-ion to other chemistries such as sodium-ion, in a bid to increase the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in the country.
Speaking after launching the EV-Ready India Dashboard, developed by OMI Foundation, the Minister said EV adoption will further gain traction as the price of battery storage comes down.
Singh pointed out that the other hurdle for adoption of EVs is lithium resources. “Eighty per cent of lithium reserves are tied up by one country, and 88 per cent of lithium processing is located in one country. Supply chain issues have now come to the forefront. What needs to be done is to shift away from lithium to other chemistries such as sodium ion. Alternative chemistries are absolutely essential for security of supply chain,” he added.
He encouraged the industry to invest in research in alternative chemistries.
“The future is electric. Nobody can stop this. The price of storage will come down, and once that comes down, diesel and petrol SUVs will be history. We will have electric, which suits our journey as one of the largest economies of the world,” Singh said.
EV dashboard
The EV-Ready India Dashboard is the only dashboard in the country that compiles sales data across all Vahan States and Telangana, along with a direct view into the state of charging infrastructure, demand trends and comparisons of total cost of ownership, making it useful for the EV buyers as well.
Additionally, it tracks the current investment climate for EVs, and forecasts on market growth and EV hotspots for the country. It further measures emissions avoided, aiming to accelerate India’s journey to Net Zero.
The dashboard estimates over 1.6 crore annual EV deployments in India by 2030.
“With this, it also cites Maharashtra and Delhi operating with the highest number of charging stations in India (2,531 and 1,815 respectively). Tamil Nadu emerges as the E2W manufacturing hub of the country, Telangana leads in E3W manufacturing, Maharashtra in E4W manufacturing, Gujarat in battery manufacturing, and Karnataka in R&D,” OMI Foundation said.
Chandigarh reports the lowest public charging supply tariff at ₹3.6 per kWh, 73 per cent lower compared to the national average of ₹13.74 per kWh. The dashboard also reports that India has avoided an estimated 5.18 million tonnes of CO2 emissions in 2023 so far, equivalent to 85.47 million tree seedlings covering twice the cumulative area of Lakshadweep islands, it added.
Singh said that the EV-Ready India Dashboard is a fantastic initiative to update on the progress of EV deployments, and other electric mobility trends.