Challenges of Owning an EV in India The future is here and some of us are already scrambling to be part of it! Decades ago, when Maini launched the Reva in India in 2001, no one thought much about the tiny, Tata Nano like car. The Reva did make news but failed to create a dent in the market due to its premature launch in India. Fast Forward to 2021. State governments are rolling out FAME II subsidies, international auto OEMs are foraying into India and the air is super charged with the excitement of electric vehicles being the future of the Auto industry. Out with ICE vehicles and in with the “charge” of the EV brigade! Did you know that our transportation eco-system is one of the biggest emitters of CO2 emission? One way of bringing down these emissions is through the implementation of EV solutions. A study released in 2015 shows that, in the US, electric cars generate half or less than half of the emissions of comparable fuel-powered cars. And with the rising fuel prices, it’s not the environment that is at risk. Even if you don’t own an ICE vehicle, rising fuel prices make an impact. Public transport becomes expensive, and you need to shell out more to buy products. So, at such a time, buying an electric car makes a lot of sense, right? Yes, owning an EV for personal use or for your business is more economical and helps saves the environment as well. But there are some teething issues plaguing EV owners. In this article, we understand the challenges an EV owner can face and what the possible solutions are.
No dedicated parking spots The EV charging conundrum is nothing but a parking issue. In India, not every 4-wheeler owner has access to a dedicated parking spot. Even in a large residential complex, many residents have opted for open or uncovered parking slots. So, how do they setup their OEM supplied charging station or charger? Organizations who don’t have dedicated parking spots will face this problem. State governments are launching policies for most residential, commercial and workplace buildings to make provisions for EV chargers. Even our public roads don’t have a regulated parking system where Govt. or Private organizations can set up mass charging stations. But this is a space that is currently serviced by Charge Point Operators that run a petrol bunk like system but with EV charging stations.
Lack of EV charging infra One of the most common challenges associated with owning an electric vehicle is range anxiety. The lack of a robust and widespread charging infrastructure adds to the misery of an EV owner. Even though EV sales are seeing an uptick off late, they are being used for intra-city travelling. However, the long-haul travel issue will soon need to be addressed to increase the utilization limits of fleets and allow people to travel across city limits. A few Indian state governments have proactively floated tenders for the installation of public EV charging stations and dozens of CPO start-ups have mushroomed all over the country. However, most of this infrastructure development is limited to Tier-1 cities and within city limits only. It’s the classic Chicken and Egg problem. People don’t buy EVs as the charging infrastructure isn’t there and charging infra isn’t an attractive business model as there aren’t enough EVs on the road! Read more: https://semaconnect.in/2021/08/challenges-of-owning-an-evin-india/