Though the interest to promote electric mobility has picked momentum across the world by way of common standards and collaborations for producing components, industry experts point out that India could be an ideal market for adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). It also has potential to become a manufacturing and export hub for electric vehicles.

“While no country in the world has seen even moderate adoption of electric vehicles, there are several factors that suggest that India could be an ideal place for electric mobility. Short distance travel, very low speed drive and lots of stop-and-go means that electric vehicles are suited for our urban commuting. Since our average driving speed is very low, companies may not be burdened with huge amount of safety protection systems in such vehicles,” said V Sumantran, executive vice-chairman, Hinduja Automotive.

Citing a case, Suma­n­t­r­an stated that both Tata Nano and Toyota Prius — which is powered by a battery as well as an internal combustion engine — have same CO2 footprint if you set aside other technologies. Nano achieves the CO2 (carbon) footprint by about 625 kgm kerb weight, while Prius does it with about 1,230 kerb weight. Of course, one cannot say that Prius is any less efficient. It’s a nicely designed car and has better features. But how relevant are these cars for short city travels?” he asked.

Thus, simpler the solution for EVs mea­ns it consumes less material, is more economical and more environment-friendly, he said, adding that there are lot of enabling factors in India for the use of EVs. Asked about evolving common standards in India as in the European Union to kickstart the adoption of EVs here, he said that common standards should focus beyond vehicles to charging, replacement of batteries, driving systems, among others. “If we start doing this as we are seeing in Europe, it will be an important enabler,” he added.

Only last month, the European vehicle industry agreed on a common standard for charging any EVs across Europe. The proposal will enable the use of one type of plug independent of the car make, the electricity provider and the country.

“This is a major step towards the broader introduction of electrically-chargeable vehicles in Europe and paves the way for a harmonised solution around the globe,” according to Ivan Hodac, secretary general of ACEA, the automobile manufacturers’ trade association of the European Union. A unique standard for vehicle charging will benefit all stakeholders involved: the auto industry, the consumer and the infrastructure provider. “Standardisation provides predictability to investors; it enables economy of scale and reduces costs,” noted ACEA. Stating that a lot of standardisation work was being carried out in terms of components for electric vehicles, Ted Robertson, president, Magna E-car North America, said: “We are working on getting the cells in the battery pack standardised as the batteries are key component in an electrtic vehicle.”

Dr David L Schutt CEO, SAE. International indicated that standardisation of technology will lead to reduction of cost of vehicles and that would woo more customers to use EVs. However, the challenge is how quickly industry could achieve will be crucial as it is still in the learning curve. Sumantran said the auto industry in India has started discussing the development of common standards for electric vehicle adoption in the country and the matter will soon be taken up with the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers too.

However, experts pointed out the need for incentivising the use of such vehicles. “No country has seen adoption of EVs without federal or central subsidy. Vehicles such as Toyota Prius have such incentives. In In­d­ia, we don’t have them now but we are going to need those to even play with the technology we have. It is going to take 5-7 years to reach maturity and we are going to allow that period so that OEMs, governments, consumers, road systems and infrastructure can prepare for quick adoption,” he added. Sumantran pointed out that India could also become a potential manufacturing base for electric vehicles. Electric vehicles have a complex number of ECUs (electronic control units), battery and drive systems, power systems, etc and every such system would be software-controlled.