[sri_tesla]

Originally Posted by GTO

I think we're going to see hybrids enter the market in a big way in India, but EVs have a long time before mass adoption.

I am not sure about this prediction. Here are the reasons why I believe hybrids are not going to be very successful:

• World is moving quickly towards full-electric vehicles. Its happening across all major markets like US, China and Europe.

• Plug-in Hybrid with decent range (30 to 50 miles electric range) development is almost stopped. Chevy Volt is the most successful plug-in Hybrid which had a very good electric range (~50 miles). But there are multiple reports about it being discontinued in future. On the other hand , Chevy announced that they will release dozens of all-electric models in next 3-4 years.

• There are many all-electric models to be released in the next 1-2 years than proper plug-in models like Volt by all major companies. I am not sure if these companies develop hybrids for only markets like India, while all other major markets moving to all-electrics.

I agree that electric vehicles growth in India will take much longer than the markets like US, China and Europe but we will get there eventually. We cannot judge electric vehicles by failure of mediocre vehicles like e20 plus or eVerito.

[srishiva]

I think the car makers are moving enthusiastically towards electric vehicles. Not sure about the charging infrastructure moving that well. Currently only private car owners who use cars for short distances or office commute can charge effectively. Commercial operators cannot unless they have batteries that can be swapped. Even then these places need to be distributed massively for big cities.

I guess there is a huge problem that needs to be solved and it requires not only massive investment but also resolve ownership, recyclability, standards etc. I hope someone thinks about these things in parallel while the car makers go ahead with their plans

A hybrid is complicated and costly if needs to run more miles just on electric. Its not worth in my opinion for a car maker

[bugatti]

Originally Posted by jalsa777

The problem in setting up EV charging stations is that the Electricity Act 2003 prohibits any company without a electricity distribution license to sell electricity.
This stops private companies from setting up for profit EV charging stations. As of now, only distribution license holders like BEST, Mahavitaran, BESSCOM, Tata Power, etc. can set up EV charging stations. Even for them, electricity tariffs are approved by each state's electricity regulatory commission (as mandated by the Electricity Act 2003). Now under the existing tariff categories, there is no mention of EV charging, this it comes under a grey area.

There have been talks about amending the Electricity Act 2003 to accomodate not only EV s but also small scale private power generation from renewable sources but there has been no update from the government. Without relevant ammendments to the Electricity Act 2003, EVs are a no-go in India.

To be fair, the Electricity Act 2003 was a very forward looking policy document which enabled power trading in the country and many such advances. But it completely missed the bus on EVs, which is understandable cause it was made in the early 2000s.

Another much needed reform is that Electricity should be bought under GST, or else we'll have a situation like petrol/diesel where each state has different taxes on sale of fuel. If it remains this way, states will impose large a VAT on electricity sale for EV charging and that will be detrimental to the whole EV movement.

India’s New Norms To Pave Way For Setting Up Electric Vehicle Charging Stations


“Sale of electricity is a licensed activity. We have taken an in-principle decision that this will be considered a service,” Aniruddha Kumar, joint secretary at the Ministry of Power, said in New Delhi yesterday. The new guidelines, which were expected to be released this financial year, will incentivise private companies as setting up charging stations wouldn’t require a licence.

[sreeharipv]

I hate when major news outlets reported this as failure of EVs when its in fact failure as a result of complacency. Mahindra E2O or Verito in its current form isn't built for all day operation. Two things are essential for any EV to be successful as a taxi. First, the range should be enough to cover one shift worth of operation and second, recharging to 80% shouldn't take more than 45 minutes. It doesn't take much to achieve these two things. Once we have cars with 250 km range (there are EVs that can do 600 km today!), you don't have to think about charging in the middle of a shift. That couple with DC super charging will enable these EVs for easy operation through 2 shifts per day.

This is a problem of wrong choices not EVs.

[sagaranjos]

Originally Posted by ksameer1234

Why not charge the car from regular power outlets which is available everywhere and I am sure does not require tons of government clearances?

Charging from regular power would be painfully slow. The chargers specifically setup for charging are fast-chargers and are generally DC powered!