Electric Vehicles In India

Electric vehicle drives offer a number of advantages over conventional internal combustion engines, especially in terms of lower local emissions, higher energy efficiency, and decreased dependency upon oil. Yet there are significant barriers to the rapid adoption of electric cars, including the limitations of battery technology, high purchase costs, and the lack of recharging infrastructure. With intelligently controlled charging operations, the energy needs of potential electric vehicle fleets could be covered by existing German power plants without incurring large price fluctuations. Over the long term, electric vehicles could represent a sustainable technology path. In the short to mid-term, however, exceedingly optimistic expectations should be avoided, especially with respect to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Electric vehicles as such will not be able to solve all current problems of transportation policy. Yet they may constitute an important component of a larger roadmap for sustainable transportation.

An electric vehicle (EV) is an automotive vehicle that uses one or more electric motors for propulsion. It can be powered by a collector system, with electricity from extravehicular sources, or it can be powered autonomously by a battery (sometimes charged by solar panels, or by converting fuel to electricity using fuel cells or a generator). EVs include, but are not limited to, road and rail vehicles, surface and underwater vessels, electric aircraft and electric spacecraft.

EVs first came into existence in the mid-19th century, when electricity was among the preferred methods for motor vehicle propulsion, providing a level of comfort and ease of operation that could not be achieved by the gasoline cars of the time. Internal combustion engines were the dominant propulsion method for cars and trucks for about 100 years, but electric power remained commonplace in other vehicle types, such as trains and smaller vehicles of all types.

In the 21st century, EVs have seen a resurgence due to technological developments, and an increased focus on renewable energy and the potential reduction of transportation's impact on climate change, air pollution, and other environmental issues. Project Drawdown describes electric vehicles as one of the 100 best contemporary solutions for addressing climate change.

Government incentives to increase adoption were first introduced in the late 2000s, including in the United States and the European Union, leading to a growing market for the vehicles in the 2010s. Increasing public interest and awareness and structural incentives, such as those being built into the green recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, is expected to greatly increase the electric vehicle market. During the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns have reduced the amount of greenhouse gases from gasoline or diesel vehicles. The International Energy Agency said in 2021 that governments should do more to meet climate goals, including policies for heavy electric vehicles. Electric vehicle sales may increase from 2% of global share in 2016 to 30% by 2030. Much of this growth is expected in markets like North America, Europe and China; a 2020 literature review suggested that growth in use of electric 4-wheeled vehicles appears economically unlikely in developing economies, but that electric 2-wheeler growth is likely. There are more 2- and 3-wheel EVs than any other type.

ELECTRIC VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY

Electrically-propelled automobiles have been in use for more than a century: “Stored electricity finds its greatest usefulness in propelling cars and road vehicles, and it has been for this application, primarily, that the Edison storage battery has been developed. Mr Edison saw that there are two viewpoints: that of the electrical man with his instruments, his rules of efficient operation and reasonable life of the battery, his absolute knowledge that the same care should be given a vehicle battery that is given a valued horse or even a railroad locomotive; and that of the automobile driver, who simply wishes to go somewhere with his car, and who, when he arrives somewhere, wishes to go back. And in the long-promised storage battery the highly practical nature of Edison’s work is once more exemplified in that he has held uncompromisingly to the automobilism’s point of view.” (Scientific American, January 1911) However the popularity of electric vehicles soon declined when electric batteries could not match the price and energy density of petroleum-fuelled vehicles.

Electric hybrid vehicles were developed in response to environmental concerns and the desire to reduce fuel consumption for many modes of driving. Most current hybrid models have had Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH) storage batteries. Several of these models have been crash-tested by NCAP organisations and no problems associated with the electrical systems have been encountered. Furthermore, rescue organisations have developed procedures for dealing with crashes involving vehicles with NiMH batteries. Some procedures are model-specific and have been developed in consultation with vehicle manufacturers.

LITHIUM-ION VEHICLE BATTERIES Li-ion vehicle batteries are much more sophisticated than laptop computer batteries. There are numerous levels of automatically isolating stored electrical energy and they have inbuilt cooling systems to prevent heat build-up under most foreseeable circumstance.

EXPERIMENTATION

In January 1990, General Motors' President introduced its EV concept two-seater, the "Impact", at the Los Angeles Auto Show. That September, the California Air Resources Board mandated major-automaker sales of EVs, in phases starting in 1998. From 1996 to 1998 GM produced 1117 EV1s, 800 of which were made available through three-year leases.

Chrysler, Ford, GM, Honda, and Toyota also produced limited numbers of EVs for California drivers. In 2003, upon the expiration of GM's EV1 leases, GM discontinued them. The discontinuation has variously been attributed to:

• the auto industry's successful federal court challenge to California's zero-emissions vehicle mandate,
• a federal regulation requiring GM to produce and maintain spare parts for the few thousands EV1s and
• the success of the oil and auto industries' media campaign to reduce public acceptance of EVs

During the late 20th and early 21st century, the environmental impact of the petroleum-based transportation infrastructure, along with the fear of peak oil, led to renewed interest in an electric transportation infrastructure. EVs differ from fossil fuel-powered vehicles in that the electricity they consume can be generated from a wide range of sources, including fossil fuels, nuclear power, and renewables such solar power and wind power or any combination of those. The carbon footprint and other emissions of electric vehicles varies depending on the fuel and technology used for electricity generation. The electricity may be stored in the vehicle using a battery, flywheel, or supercapacitors. Vehicles using internal combustion engines usually only derive their energy from a single or a few sources, usually non-renewable fossil fuels. A key advantage of electric vehicles is regenerative braking, which recovers kinetic energy, typically lost during friction braking as heat, as electricity restored to the on-board battery.

Different Forms of Electric Mobility

Essentially all vehicles with electric drives could fall into the category of Electric Mobility, including rail vehicles directly connected to the power grid – i.e. local and long-distance trains, which have already been electrified for decades. In the current debate, however, the term Electric Mobility is primarily used for motorized individual transport, i.e. passenger cars and scooters. It describes the supplementation or complete substitution of today’s internal combustion engines by electric power trains. There are a number of different drive concepts, ranging from slightly hybridized combustion engines to fully electric vehicles (Table 1). Micro, mild, and full hybrid vehicles combine a conventional combustion engine with electric drive components and a low-capacity battery. Yet they obtain their energy exclusively from conventional fuels. Plug-in hybrid vehicles allow charging the battery at the power grid, such that a portion of the car’s energy consumption can be covered by grid power. By contrast, pure battery-electric vehicles obtain their energy exclusively from the power grid. Vehicles with hydrogen fuel cells fall into the category electric mobility only in a limited sense, since they generate their operating power from hydrogen on board. In the following, this report focuses on battery-electric passenger cars.

Advantageous Features of Electric Drives

Advantageous Features of Electric Drives

A significant advantage of electric drive vehicles is that they hardly emit any local air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides or particulate matter. In addition, noise emissions are lower compared to combustion engines.2 As a result, electric cars are especially attractive for inner city transport, low emission zones, and environmentally sensitive are-as. However, air pollutants may be released at the site of electricity generation – in particular, CO2. Drawing on realistic driving cycles and a well-to-wheel approach, CO2 emissions of battery-electric vehicles are lower than those of comparable cars with diesel or gasoline engines. This is even true if the current German electricity mix is used, which contains a large share of coal. Its CO2 intensity will decrease in the future, especially through the further deployment of renewable energy. This will directly improve the emissions performance of future electric vehicles. With regard to overall German CO2 emissions, the future expansion of electric vehicles and the associated increase in electricity demand will require an additional expansion of renewable energy – otherwise, the use of renewable electricity in the transportation sector will merely replace its use in other electric applications.

Aside from emissions advantages, electric drives are significantly more energy efficient than combustion engines, and also more efficient than hydrogen fuel cells. From a well-to-wheel perspective, the energy efficiency of gasoline or diesel engines is only 18 to 23 percent. By contrast, electric engines already achieve around 30 percent efficiency, even with Germany’s current electricity mix. Here as well, foreseeable energy efficiency improvements in power generation would directly benefit future electric vehicles. Electric vehicles could thus contribute to the conservation of primary energy resources.

Furthermore, electric vehicle drives make it possible to use a broad energy resource base. Conventional engines largely rely upon fossil fuels, which can be replaced by biofuels only to a small extent. In 2007, more than 90 percent of German final energy consumption in the transport sector was sup-plied by petroleum products.5 In contrast, power for electric vehicles can be generated from practically all primary energy sources. This could potentially diminish economic and political dependency upon oil imports as well as associated macroeconomic imbalances and price risks.

Significant Barriers Remain

Battery technology currently represents the largest barrier for the rapid deployment of electric vehicles. Compared to conventional fuels, even the most advanced lithiuion batteries only have a small energy density.6 Consequently, even large and heavy batteries only permit a limited operating range. Yet it should be noted that daily travel distances of most users are small: in 2004, half of all commutes by employed individuals in Germany were shorter than ten kilometers, about 80 percent were shorter than 25 kilometers, and more than 90 percent were shorter than 50 kilometers.7 So the operating range of currently available electric vehicles would already be sufficient to cover the majority of commuter travel.

Battery capacity restrictions require electric vehicles to be more light-weight and to be motorized more efficiently in comparison to conventional cars. From this perspective, the ongoing German trend to build ever heavier and more powerful vehicles seems quite problematic. In 2008, the average engine power of all newly registered cars in Germany was between 81 and 90 kW (110-122 HP). Only seven percent of newly registered vehicles were below 50 kW (68 HP), which is in the range of currently available, practical electric vehicles.8 Given this market environment, the deployment of electric vehicles seems to be restricted to specific market niches at the moment. The use of an electric vehicle as the primary mode of transportation in private households thus seems improbable. Electric vehicles are more likely to be deployed as secondary cars or as fleet vehicles. For instance, the vehicle fleets of certain government agencies, delivery services, or carsharing providers may be well-suited for electrification.

Further research is clearly needed, not only with regard to the energy density of lithiumion batteries, but also with regard to their longevity, temperature sensitivity, safety, and recyclability. Yet the avail-ability of lithium, a primary battery component, is unlikely to be jeopardized in the foreseeable future, even though current supply sources are strongly concentrated in South America, especially in Chile.

An additional weakness of current batteries is their high cost: a battery for a plug-in hybrid vehicle with an energy storage capacity of ten kilowatt hours currently costs 8,000 to 10,000 euros, which is as expensive as a basic conventional small car.10 On the other hand, battery-electric vehicles do not in-volve the expense of a conventional power train. In addition, recharging costs are low compared to conventional fuels. Therefore, the economic feasibility of electric cars depends largely upon their usage profile and their mileage. For the foreseeable future, cars with relatively small batteries and high annual mileage are likely to be economically most feasible.

The creation of a sufficient number of charging stations and the need of protecting them from misuse and vandalism represent a major infrastructure barrier. This problem could be solved if private electric vehicles were charged at their owners’ homes using existing household power connectors. Yet this is only possible if suitable personal parking spaces are available. As setting up additional recharging infra-structure is costly, this currently seems to be most viable for the case of fleet vehicles which are parked at central sites, for example parking garages. In contrast, a widespread deployment of public charging stations is not foreseeable in the mid-term. Another unresolved problem is the national and international standardization of charging, connection, and billing technologies.

Electric mobility also faces socio-cultural barriers. In particular, the flexibility of electric vehicle us-age is lower compared to conventional cars due to their smaller operating ranges and longer recharging times. Even if charging durations could be reduced by means of higher charging rates, it is unclear at this time if users would tolerate such restrictions to the flexibility of car use. Moreover, empirical studies show that consumers remain fundamentally skeptical about energy technologies which they con-sider new and untested, especially if they are also capital-intensive.

Market Shares of Electric Vehicles

Essentially all vehicles with electric drives could fall into the category of Electric Mobility, including rail vehicles directly connected to the power grid – i.e. local and long-distance trains, which have already been electrified for decades. In the current debate, however, the term Electric Mobility is primarily used for motorized individual transport, i.e. passenger cars and scooters. It describes the supplementation or complete substitution of today’s internal combustion engines by electric power trains. Micro, mild, and full hybrid vehicles combine a conventional combustion engine with electric drive components and a low-capacity battery. Yet they obtain their energy exclusively from conventional fuels. Plug-in hybrid vehicles allow charging the battery at the power grid, such that a portion of the car’s energy consumption can be covered by grid power. By contrast, pure battery-electric vehicles obtain their energy exclusively from the power grid. Vehicles with hydrogen fuel cells fall into the category electric mobility only in a limited sense, since they generate their operating power from hydrogen on board. In the following, this report focuses on battery-electric passenger cars.

In general, the German passenger car fleet is re-placed at a very slow rate. Whereas the overall number of German cars is about 41 million, the annual number of new car registrations was between three and four million during recent years. Thus, even a high proportion of electric vehicles among new registrations would result in a slow penetration of the vehicle inventory. Yet high electric m vehicle shares at new registrations are unlikely given the barriers previously described. Existing scenarios on the future expansion of electric vehicles are highly variable, as there are so many uncertainties regarding future technological, infra-structural, and economic conditions. Table 2 shows the results of a study that projects two different development paths through 2050.13 In a scenario with a high market penetration of electric vehicles (called “Dominanz-Szenario”), the German vehicle fleet will be almost entirely replaced by electric cars. In an alternative scenario with lower market penetration (“Pluralismus-Szenario”), which seems more realistic given the barriers discussed above, different types of drives coexist over a long time. The number of plug-in hybrids exceeds the number of pure battery-electric vehicles for a long time due to higher operating ranges attainable with hybrid vehicles and due to lower requirements for setting up recharging infrastructure. The table also shows that the fleet penetration of electric vehicles rises.

Additional Possibilities with Vehicle-to-Grid

Implementing what is known as the Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) concept promises to realize substantial synergies between the vehicle fleet and the electricity system. The basic idea of V2G is to integrate parked electric vehicles into the power grid with a bidirectional grid connection. This would not only permit controlled recharging of vehicle batteries, but would also allow for feeding back stored electricity into the power grid in times of high demand.19 The concept makes use of the fact that vehicles are not on the road during most hours of the day. A wide-spread implementation of the V2G concept would significantly increase the connected load of the grid: if only a quarter of today’s approximately 41 million vehicles in Germany were electrified and integrated into the electrical network with a power rating of 15 kilowatts per car, then the cumulative power rating would amount to around 150 gigawatts, which was available as short-term generation or load capacity. This value actually exceeds today’s entire German power generation capacity of around 147 gigawatts. However, the potentially high cumulative power rating of future electric vehicle fleets stands in contrast to the comparatively small storage capacity of car batteries. For this reason, the V2G concept is especially promising for high power, time-critical applications. This includes the provision of reserve power, which is necessary to balance short-term deviations between planned electricity generation and actual demand in the power grid. In contrast, V2G seems rather unfeasible for storage-intensive applications such as peak power supply or storage of excess wind power.20 Before the V2G concept can be widely implemented, many remaining questions need to be addressed regarding standardization and operation of the required infrastructure as well as possible adverse effects upon vehicle batteries.

Conclusion

In recent discussions about alternative drive technologies, the focus has been on electric vehicles. Compared to internal combustion engines, electric drives offer several advantages, including nearly zero local emissions, potentially low overall CO2 emissions, increased energy efficiency, and the possibility to draw on a broad base of energy re-sources. If domestic renewable energy sources are used, electric vehicles not only promise substantial CO2 emission reductions but also independence from imported fossil fuels. Moreover, potential synergies between the vehicle fleet and the electricity system could be realized if electric vehicles were intelligently connected to the power grid. Substantial barriers, however, remain for the rapid and wide-spread adoption of electric vehicle drives, including the limitations of current battery technology and high costs. In addition, it is important not to under-estimate infrastructure-related and socio-cultural barriers. Due to ongoing political support in many countries and significant activities in the private sector, it is unlikely that the topic of electric mobility represents just a passing fad, as has partly been the case with fuel cells and biofuels in the past. Yet a significant market penetration of electric vehicles would only appear to be realistic over the long term. Given the obstacles identified herein, it is clear that electric vehicles will at best become important in some specific market niches over the next few years. This fact is underscored by the German policy goal of having one million electric vehicles on the road by 2020. The target appears to be quite ambitious given present technical and economic hurdles, al-though it would only constitute two percent of the current German car fleet. Against this background, it makes sense to think about electric vehicles as a promising long-term technology path that should not be overburdened by unrealistic short-term and medium-term hopes and expectations. Politicians should avoid rushing into short-sighted actions, but instead should aim to set an appropriate long-term course for electric vehicles.