Team-BHP - Auto industry hails PM's assurance - Conventional engine cars will COEXIST with EVs

Auto industry hails PM's assurance:
ICE Conventional Engine vehicles will COEXIST with Electric vehicles (EV)

In an interview with a business daily, PM Modi has asserted that India has a large enough market and big enough policy space to ensure growth of both internal combustion engine vehicles and EVs, and there was no need to speculate about the growth of either of the two.

The auto industry has been opposing proposal by Niti Aayog to push for full conversion to EVs for ICE three-wheelers by 2023 and two-wheelers of 150-cc and below by 2025, saying a transition was completely uncalled for and could jeopardise the industry.

Auto industry players welcomed PM Modi's assurance that conventional engine vehicles and electric vehicles (EVs) can co-exist in India, saying it would encourage investment and job creation in future.

SIAM President, Rajan Wadhera said the assurance is completely in-line with SIAM's recommendations that all relevant technologies should co-exist.
TVS Chairman, Venu Srinivasan said "it is a strong step to encourage investment and employment in the automotive sector in India".
Toyota Joint MD, N Raja said the PM's statement has given a lot more confidence and clarity and will help the auto industry in efforts to come out of the ongoing sales slump.

Quote:

"Now with this clarity, people who were thinking of delaying purchases, what we called as fence sitters, can come forward. It will help in improving the market,"

Finally a big sigh of relief for all ICE car owners!

Source

Finally a big relief for entire Auto Industry.

E.V. is no longer a push but it is now a choice.

Good to see PM himself coming to mend the damage done by NITI Ayog's irresponsible statements / plans / proposal on Fully EV market by 2025 then pushing the date back to 2030 and such.

This is a huge deal for long term planning. Car makers can now sustain slowdown but keep on development & investment since no such time frame on ICE anymore.

Media needs to do it's part too. They spread those Niti Ayog mandatory EV proposal like wildfire. Popular sentiment needs to be rectified & this news needs to reach every single corner of the world.

Plenty of Joint Venture may now see different out come by the way. Like Mahindra & Ford JV and others like that which were done in desperation to meet 2025 EV deadlines.lol:

This should not make car makers go easy ! I think when it comes to hybrids, the govt should mandate plugin and have minimum mileage to run on just electric alone.

Also, cant ICE can be used just for charging the battery and have lesser capacity since it can operate in the efficient rpm range? Kind of like our electric locomotives.

When Reliance's main business is Petrochemicals the PM cannot wish away the sector. The Company is further strengthening its presence with few plans disclosed recently, (and I was always very sure hydrocarbons would run parallel to the electric initiative) - Otherwise, I would have disposed of my oil burner for a Kona, the coming January.

That's a more realistic approach. IC engines would be used for quite some time, growth of Electricity reach considered. I feel a good option would also be to focus on the really unfit vehicles, while leaving the fit ones alone.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sebring (Post 4639197)

When Reliance's main business is Petrochemicals the PM cannot wish away the sector.

Reliance is not dependent on sales for vehicles. They can work in the industrial sector and still make good profits, as they have shown already. Reliance did open up to the retail sector with a huge network of outlets, but then stopped (and even absorbed the losses) due to the adverse situation due to regulated fuel pricing. This is the reason that there were many defunct bunks across the country.

It is ironic that we talk of co-existence yet mistreat the Hybrids. Given the right push, we could already switch to these hybrids at more affordable cost and enjoy the electric city drive and long range weekend drives on conventional fuel.

Now that the PM has given the assurance, i also wish some benefits are given to tempt the makers to bring more hybrids to our market

Quote:

Originally Posted by payeng (Post 4639456)

Focus is changing...

I think the OP was being sarcastic when he said 'When Reliance's main business is...' (a bit of political overtone it seems) :)

Lets see if this statement cheers up the auto market in any way (the macro factors are still there, but still, lets see)

While I welcome this statement, I will say that India needs to promote Hybrids and EVs. Passenger vehicles powered solely by ICE can be banned from 2025.

Quoting one of my old posts:

Quote:

Originally Posted by landcruiser123 (Post 4250384)

This policy needs to be set right.... A lot of fuel is wasted in start-stop driving and idling in choked city roads and bottlenecks. If it weren't for our badly planned infrastructure, we would consume much lesser fuel with our small engines, but that's a topic for another thread......
The government should define what kind of hybrid it is going to give the tax break to. In loose terms, I think a tax break can be given to a hybrid car which:

->Operates on pure electric power for 15 km: ARAI can develop a 5 test conditions so to minimize loopholes. (Remember the far from reality FE tests?) The car can be certified for a tax break if the average distance of all the test conditions are 15km with the minimum distance (amongst all test runs) is >=60% of the maximum distance (amongst all test runs.)

->Operates at a minimum speed of 25 kmph without the aid of an IC engine

->Operates all necessary ancillaries without a requirement to start the IC engine

^^Note that these numbers are not quoted with any scientific evidence behind them. If anyone here has done a lot of research on traffic patterns and their relation with FE, please enlighten us. :)

There are two major problems as I see it.

First is there hasn't been much planning, and a lot of ad-hoc changes in the last couple of years. For example, the ban on 10+ year old diesel vehicles in the NCR. This has made it difficult to plan appropriately for car manufacturers.

Second, is the lack of adaptability by auto-manufacturers, not just in India, but the world over, to the realities of the modern world. Many of them are going the way of Kodak and Nokia. Electric and hybrid cars are a reality, but few have invested in the technology. The new generation is becoming more asset-light, meaning they need to focus on lease and investing in other means of transport (public transport, personalised vehicles like a bicycle, electric scooter etc) and also need to consider that roads are becoming over-crowded with vehicles.

I have to seriously question the long-term viability of the car industry if they don't adapt

This is exactly what we don’t need. Sending confusing signals to the common man and the auto industry. A country which is destined to be the most populous in the world and continues to top the charts of the worlds most polluted cities needs to move away from fossil fuels. A half hearted approach to appease the industry catering to one lobby because of a cyclical downturn is simply short lighted. At least give us the option to use natural gas by setting up proper infrastructure.