India's electric vehicle journey so far: A story of nudges and trudges

Business Standard chronicles India's efforts over the years to push a faster adoption of electric vehicles.

The concept of electric vehicles (EVs) has been around for a fairly long time, but it has drawn significant interest only in the past decade. While rising carbon footprint and other environmental impacts of the fuel-based vehicles have nudged policymakers the world over to look seriously at EVs, India’s efforts have so far yielded very little.

The country made its first concrete decision to incentivise EVs in 2010, when, under a Rs 95-crore scheme approved by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), the government announced financial incentives for manufacturers of electric vehicles sold in India.

Since then, the central government has taken several steps to get more Indians to adopt EVs, first under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and then under Narendra Modi. Here is a timeline of events in the country’s EV journey so far:

November 2010: The Manmohan Singh-led United Progressive Alliance government announces a scheme with an outlay of Rs 95 crore to incentivize electric vehicles. The scheme envisages incentives of up to 20 per cent on ex-factory prices of the vehicles, subject to a cap.

March 2012: The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) discontinues the Rs 95-crore subsidy scheme causing a 70 per cent drop in EV sales, according to manufacturers, besides temporary or permanent closure of several dealerships.

2013: India unveils the 'National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020' to make a major shift to electric vehicles and to address the issue of national energy security, vehicular pollution and growth of domestic manufacturing capabilities. The scheme is to offer subsidies and create supporting infrastructure for EVs.

2014: In two years of the March 2012 discontinuation of subsidy on EVs, electric two-wheeler sales crash to a mere 21,000 units a year (from 100,000 two years earlier). As many as 960 distributors of e-bikes — nearly half the total number of dealers in the country in 2011-12 — shut shop during the period. Worse, 26 of the 35 major electric two-wheeler makers during the peak sales period (between November 2010 and March 2012) are out of business due to poor demand.

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Toyota drives in new version of Camry Hybrid in India at Rs 36.95 lakh

TKM Deputy Managing Director N Raja said the company would keep working to popularise hybrid vehicles in the country.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) Friday launched a new version of Camry Hybrid at an introductory price of Rs 36.95 lakh (ex-showroom).

The company, which is a joint venture between the Japanese auto major and Kirloskar group, assembles the vehicle at its Bangalore-based plant.

"With the new generation Camry Hybrid, which is a self-charging electric vehicle, we are moving one step ahead towards cleaner and the greener environment," TKM Managing Director Mazakazu Yoshimura told reporters.

With changing market dynamics in terms of safety and emission norms, the auto industry in the country will have to come up with solutions that lead towards the conservation of the environment, he added.

"Globally, we have been the pioneers in hybrid technology and this has been an important focus for us in a market like India which is moving towards greener sustainable future," Yoshimura said.

TKM Deputy Managing Director N Raja said the company would keep working to popularise hybrid vehicles in the country.

He, however, ruled out coming out with mass segment models with such hybrid technology in the near future.

The new generation Camry Hybrid comes with a 2.5 litre petrol engine mated with an electric motor delivering a fuel efficiency of 23.27 km per litre.

The sedan comes with fourth-generation hybrid system with advanced nickel metal hydride batteries.

Other features include 9 airbags, impact sensing fuel cut off, brake hold function among others. Full Coverage : Business Standard

Globally, Toyota sells Camry Hybrid in over 100 countries and so far has sold over 19 million units till date.

In India, the vehicle was first introduced in 2002; and since then, the company has sold over 11,000 units cumulatively.

In the later part of 2017, TKM had to cut down the production of the vehicle as demand for the model was adversely impacted due to the increase in price post-GST implementation.

Currently, the company's Bangalore-based facility can roll out around 125 Camry Hybrid units a month.

Under the GST regime, hybrid vehicles were put in the same category as big petrol and diesel luxury cars, attracting 28 per cent rate with a cess of 15 per cent.

Audi India set to launch luxury electric car with superior mileage in 2020

Company plans to offer cars that can do 400 km on a single charge, as opposed to existing EVs that can run 150 km at most.

German luxury car maker  Audi  is getting ready to launch a luxury electric vehicle (EV) in the country in 2020. It is working on training of employees and dealers. The company said dealerships will need to have a charging station as well. It plans to sell EVs at select dealerships in few cities depending on the progress in charging infrastructure to begin with.

“The government has clearly sent a message that EV is the future and not hybrids while introducing the GST last year. For the past nine months, we have been working heavily on the infrastructure. We have set up a task force called Electrified India within the company to work on the EV launch in India,” Rahil Ansari, Head, Audi India told Business Standard.

Ansari said EV is the future for Audi globally. “Globally, we are launching four EVs by 2020. By 2025, a lot more models will be added. Our expectation is that Audi will sell 800,000 EVs globally a year in 2025, which should then be roughly one-third of global volume. We are in a position to launch an EV in 2020 latest here in India but we will do so once the infrastructure is in place and there is clarity on all fronts. Launching is the easiest part,” he added.

Audi is working on training its employees and dealerships on electric vehicles. Dealerships need wiring, charging stations. “We have been training people at Audi India. We will work on these over next one and half year. We will not sell it everywhere in the country and not at all the dealerships,” he said. Many others mass and luxury players are expected to launch EVs in India in 2020. Country’s biggest car maker Maruti Suzuki is working with Japanese peer Toyota to launch an electric vehicle in India in 2020. Homegrown auto majors Tata Motors and M&M are the only companies that are producing electric cars in India at this point.

The government said in February it will not bring a dedicated electric vehicle policy but it is working on a new auto policy that will also set an agenda for environment friendly vehicles. Ansari said a central policy would have been ideal though the government has decided not to have one. “The industry could have worked according to framework. Suppose we launch an EV in 2020 and in 2021 a policy opposes the product. We always run that risk so it always helps to have a policy”.

Ansari said that Audi EVs will not be similar to the ones that are being sold in the country at this point. “The locally developed ones have a reach of 90-120 km after one charge and may go up to 150km. At Audi, we are talking about 400 km-plus distance with one charge. If you drive smoothly you might be able to do a round trip between Mumbai and Pune on one charge”, he said.