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Is Delhi Ready for Electric Vehicles? – The New Indian Express

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As the mass education campaign for Switch Delhi EV entered its eighth and final week on Tuesday, Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot urged the city’s youth to drive change through the adoption of electric vehicles. On a previous occasion, he had announced that Delhi would become an EV capital in two years. But the question is how easy is that? “I think it will be 10 to 15 years before Delhi is fully electric because we don’t have the infrastructure like charging stations.

The government had announced that it would install 20,000 charging stations in 2019, but I don’t think it would be practical, ”says Mohd Jawaad ​​Khan, founder of Tadpole Projects, a company that makes electric vehicles. He adds: “Many companies have put their cars on the market at prices between 13 and 22 lakh, which is too expensive for the Indian middle class.

Nimesh trivedi

However, retrofitting a car would cost up to 5 lakh with a 15 kW engine and 120 km mileage with a replaceable battery system. “Then the cost of electric vehicles is high, as the lithium-ion batteries make up 70 percent of the cost. India is not a manufacturer of these batteries; it is imported from China and assembled here, says Khan. “Getting an electric vehicle at a diesel-gasoline price will only be possible if we have our own battery production facility,” he adds. A lack of local production of components and batteries, negligible charging infrastructure and the high cost of electric vehicles have led to some buyers in the price-conscious market, admits Nimish Trivedi, co-founder of Prakriti E-Mobility, which operates 168 electric cars in its fleet in Delhi NCR.

“But the government’s interest in this sector could change things. In addition, it is likely that in the next two years there will be price parities between electric vehicles and vehicles with internal combustion engines, as the local production of battery packs and innovations in lithium-ion technology take place, as is the case with various institutions such as ISRO, DRDO and IIT the case was committed to the same, ”adds Trivedi. The Delhi scrapping directive states that vehicles over 15 years old are compulsorily scrapped without taking into account the fitness certificate. According to the National Green Tribunal, nine million vehicles will have to be scrapped by 2020. By 2030 it should be around 28 million.

However, Khan believes that retrofitting the cars into electric vehicles is more beneficial. “With the retrofit, you don’t have to scrap these many vehicles and you can extend their service life by converting them to electric. This not only reduces scrap pollution, it also reduces pollution, ”adds Khan. On the flip side, Trivedi believes that scrapping unsuitable vehicles in Delhi will lead to less air pollution and better air quality, saying, “Research has shown that recycling old metals can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Recycling scrap metal will therefore help us reduce global warming and create jobs that stimulate the economy. “The rise in gasoline and diesel prices has made the EV initiative viable, says environmentalist Jai Dhar Gupta. “When the cost of owning fossil fuel cars increases, the transition will be quick.

Mohd Jawaad ​​Khan with the 1948 Volkswagen Beetle that he
retrofitted in an EV

We need a way to get rid of old cars and recycle and reuse their parts, which I think some companies are working on. As an environmentalist, I think this is a step in the right direction. We don’t want these parts to settle on the ocean floor. Establishing the infrastructure in which the scrapped vehicles can be recycled is very important. “But he quickly adds that the automotive lobby invested billions of dollars in research and development to develop the engines. “Companies want to dispose of all of their old parts and inventory in India. The government plays a big role in this by creating incentives and disincentives that involve lobbies and personal interests, ”added Gupta.

However, Sanjay Krishnan, founder of Lithium Urban Technologies, believes the government’s plan has a vision backed by concrete action. “Aside from incentives for electric vehicles and incentives for diesel vehicles, they have plans to make all government vehicles electric.” A recent survey by Lithium Urban Technologies, a provider of sustainable business mobility solutions, found that 73 percent of Delhi respondents would like to buy an electric vehicle as their next vehicle at price parity.

As Ajay Dev Singh, 43, VP Marketing at edtech from Delhi-NCR, says: “My first car was a gasoline car, the next one will definitely be an electric vehicle as this is the most sustainable choice for mobility. Only electric vehicles can reduce vehicle emissions that contribute to environmental pollution and climate change. “

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