Electric Vehicle Anyone?

WITH ANNOUNCEMENTS of new electric vehicle (EV) cars and two-wheelers bombarding us every month, it would be difficult not to be swept away by the rhetoric.

- Ajai Kumar Dayal

Just to get a bit of perspective, however, in FY 2022, according to the Federation of Auto Dealers Association (FADA), national EV sales were 4,26,551-17,302 for four-wheelers, 1,77,871 for three-wheelers, and 2,31,338 for two-wheelers. This was 2.45 per cent of the 1,74,16,432 ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) vehicles sold.

While EV growth has been rapid in the past few years, we are still far behind adoption leaders like China and Europe. This is perhaps natural since the technological change of this scale is like turning a very large ship. It takes time. The high price of fuel helps, but it also takes huge investments and major top management commitment. According to The Indian Express, Rs 96,000 crore worth of investments are expected in the EV sector in the next five years.

In the midst of all these heady headlines, some issues still need settling. The venerable lead-acid battery has been the mainstay of the electric storage business for over a century and it continues to remain so. But most EV makers have stepped over this and Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni Mh) batteries, which were used in the early models, and are betting on Lithium Ion batteries. The ISRO has also provided its technology to many Indian battery makers. The problem is that although lithium is not that rare a metal, mining it is difficult and cumbersome. The top three producers are Australia, Chile and China. India does not have its own deposits. Large sectors using lithium globally are consumer electronics, power generation, and automotive industries and as demand increases, mining will become more difficult, ergo, more expensive.