[Ithaca]

Read an interesting thread about the future of Hybrid EVs on twitter today.
The author - Anshul Khare @anshul81 - postulates the following

In the new EV hybrids will still have an IC engine, not meant to power the wheels directly. It will act as backup for charging the battery.

In fact, when IC engine runs only to charge the car battery, its operational efficiency is way more higher than conventional automobiles.

Source: https://twitter.com/anshul81/status/1215142590602833921

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by bornnerd

Voted for - Now baby! I'm ready
Good launches by MG and Tata , along with tax rebate + no RC in Mumbai have helped me take the plunge.
.

Where / how do you plan to charge it in mumbai? Does your apartment have the ability to pull a power point? Where would you install the MG charger? I’m just curious since I live in a mumbai apartment too and facing some issues with all these aspects.

[Comrade]

I am eagerly waiting for Nexon pricing. Might swap my wifey's Polo GT for Nexon if the car is good and checks all boxes. That said I have seen people have bitter experience with Gen-1 Nissan Leaf in the US (primarily range issues). So I will wait to see the real world performance of the car before deciding. Other cars like Kona and eZS are too pricey for me.

[bornnerd]

Originally Posted by Axe77

Where / how do you plan to charge it in mumbai? Does your apartment have the ability to pull a power point? Where would you install the MG charger? I’m just curious since I live in a mumbai apartment too and facing some issues with all these aspects.

Fortunately I stay in Row house, so our society is just of 9 bungalows. Though I have yet to take official society permission, but I do not see that as a constraint. (Will probably take soon as MG guys are coming down for Feasibility study on Tuesday.)

Yes, in a larger society it might be tricky or you should be staying closer to one of the Fast charger.

[rageshgr]

Never! No toys for me. ICE forever

[vsrivatsa]

Voted for Mid-Term and that would be for EV as a primary car. But I am open to go for one if companies can come up with an affordable small car for city commutes now itself as a second car. Need to see how Wagon-R EV is priced when it releases.

[arindambasu13]

Probably never. Unless and until I am left with no other realistic option, it is internal combustion engines for me all the way. Even now, when I see those Ather scooters on the road and hear the electric whine, I just cannot reconcile myself to driving something like that. Yes, the move to EV is inevitable, but I do wish that it is delayed for as long as possible. It'll probably be perfect for when I am in my later middle age, and desire a calm and unruffling ride in any case.

[ottocycle]

Voted 5+ years.

Hoping that by that time, the battery capacity increases so that a range of 800-1000 KM is feasible with single charge for mainstream cars and fast charging infrastructure is in place.

[varman742]

Voted for Short Term (1-2 Years)

The recent EV launches has given a hope that EV technology and charging infrastructure will become mass market very soon and EVs can be best for 2nd car in the coming 2 years.

This is a perfect time for my replacement of Nano which is 5 years old . Nano is used mainly within city limits so EV can be best alternative for me. Thus within 2 years if there will be any hatchback EV then I shall definitely consider if priced well (of course with EV standard range). A well built EV offering 250 -300 KM range with price of 7-8 Lacs will be an interesting proposition.

[Kannan]

I voted for 5+ years. My existing BS-IV ICE based one is 4 years away from reaching the 15 year mark.

My use cases are 70% city use (30KMs per day round trip), 30% (600KMs per trip one way) high way use and I live in a rented apartment with no parking space.

For me the following 3 are the biggest stoppers from going to fully electric.
1. Real range should be around 400KMs per charge at max speed of 100KMpH in highway use.
2. Price should be less than ₹7L for base model, my loan eligibility is max ₹10L.
3. Chargers should be there at the least for every 150KMs in highway.

[navin]

Originally Posted by navin

I agreed. Most older apartment buildings just won't have the charging infrastructure.

EVs only make sense for those who have garages or some kind of organized parking. This is why out of the 20 votes so far, I am the only one who believes EV is impractical for at least the old metros like Mumbai and Delhi.

"Rubbish, no EVs for me". I doubt I will see EVs having a significant share of automobile sales during my lifetime.

How fast things change. Not long ago I thought how would I charge an EV?

Today the apartment building I live in was visited by a BEST (Mumbai Electric Supply) contractor along with a BEST official. They met with us and talked about wiring up the building with electrical charging points that could either be connected to each member's individual meter or to a common meter.

Seems like the infrastructure for electric vehicles would be coming to even old apartment buildings sooner than expected.

[pgsagar]

Originally Posted by navin

How fast things change. Not long ago I thought how would I charge an EV?

Today the apartment building I live in was visited by a BEST (Mumbai Electric Supply) contractor along with a BEST official. They met with us and talked about wiring up the building with electrical charging points that could either be connected to each member's individual meter or to a common meter.

Seems like the infrastructure for electric vehicles would be coming to even old apartment buildings sooner than expected.

I said this before and I will say it again, Sir. In the matters of new technology adaptation, Asians, especially Indians beat Westerners. Look at usage of smart-phones. Probably we come right on top. Remember late 90s internet centres? How fast they sprang up at every street corner. Setting up an EV charging station is a lot easier than setting up a fossil fuel station or hydrogen storage station. No digging up, explosion-proofing etc.

I was an MT lover and at the advent of ATs , I laughed at those "silly" automatics. I am a late AT convert, albeit sheepishly after eating my own words, and today I wouldn't touch an MT car with a barge pole. So, I don't want to make that mistake again and my next car purchase is definitely going to be an EV.

[fordday]

Originally Posted by Nissan1180

Do all EVs in India have a neutral?

Wonder why wouldn't a car come with neutral gear? All three current ones (Kona, EZ, Nexon) have neutral gears, atleast as seen from pictures.

[gautam99]

What's the cost per km of owning and running an ev such as a Kona versus similar sized ice vehicle? And how much power connected load would I need to charge it?

[self_driven]

Voted for "No EVs for me" option.

Call me old school but the mechanical feel is what attracts me to automobiles. I haven't neither experienced any EV till date nor do I look forward to. The feeling of having control over several components, the progressive build-up of power and the sound of an IC engine will be hard to replicate in an electric vehicle. Reliability, serviceability and travel range is an added advantage in my opinion to stick to IC engines for as long as possible.

Driving cars is one of the few stress busters in my life. I'll not compromise with it for the sake of technological advancements.

Although I am planning to keep my current cars fornthe next 4-5 years at least, I'm pretty sure I'll replace them with petrol/diesel vehicles again. Given the charging infra and general state of affairs in our country, I do not see EVs gaining traction in the mass market segment (<10 lakhs) even 10 years from now. By 2030, the best I can imagine is that most cars on the roads will be BS6 compliant with 90% petrol (half of them on CNG) and 10% diesel vehicle ratio. Early adopters of EVs will have bragging rights for sure but I don't see value in paying 1.5x or more of a car's worth to get a less practical battery technology.

PS. I'm so old school that I still prefer stick shifts over automatics, yes even in Delhi traffic! Driving an automatic reminds me of GTA Vice City days with control over the gas and brake buttons and nothing else to do.