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Fact sheet: New developments on electric vehicles in India


1. Policy development

Soon after the central government waived off the excise duty on battery-operated the
electric vehicle (EV) in this year's budget, state governments have stepped in to
announce similar tax cuts to lower pollution load in cities. Delhi government has
announced a 29.5 per cent discount for the small electric car­Reva. Chandigarh has
offered a subsidy of 15 per cent on battery-operated vehicles. Bangalore has taken the
lead to give 4 per cent VAT waiver for the initial five years after the launch of the car and
on registration costs.

While fuel prices are giving jitters to the car companies, EV makers are jubilant. The
combination of high cost of liquid fuels and government support is pushing up demand for
EVs.

Delhi government has come up with an innovative funding scheme. The cost of the
subsidy for EVs will be covered from the Air Ambience Fund created from an
environment cess of 25 paisa per litre on diesel fuel sold in Delhi. Delhi government has
already collected Rs 10 crore from this cess. Purchaser of battery-operated vehicles will
get 15 percent subsidy on the base price of the vehicle, a value added tax (VAT) refund
of 12.5 percent and a 2 percent concession on road tax and registration expenses. In
total these incentives has cut the price of Reva by a lakh rupees.

Welcoming this move Chetan Maini, Deputy Chairman of Reva Electric Car Company
Private Ltd. (RECC) says, "We hope other states will look at Delhi as examples on how
such things are implemented." The company that has sold around 2,500 cars in the past
seven years, is now ramping up its capacity five times to hit a target of 30,000 units a
year.

2. Market overdrive

These policy developments have kindled interest of other players as well. Several known
and unknown players are jumping into the EV market. In the car segment, several other
mainstream carmakers have shown interest in developing electric vehicles. According to
reports, these include M&M, which is looking at the electric vehicles for its commercial
and passenger vehicle range, Tata Motors have also built a prototype electric Indica.
Mitsubishi Motors Corp has plans to bring in their successful electric models to India.
Italian design house Pininfarina, known for designing Ferrari, has said that it will
introduce an electric car in the Indian market by 2014.

Not only the mainstream carmakers, the household name in making clocks ­ the Ajanta
group has begun producing electric bikes in Gujarat and has plans to make a electric car
priced at Rs 85,000 with 70 per cent indigenous components. The analysts see this as a
challenge to Tata's low cost car Nano reported to be priced at Rs 1 lakh. Another Rajkot
based Field Marshal Group is reported to have a tie-up with Australia based Farnow
Technologies for electric car. Globally, companies such as GM, Volkswagen, Mitsubishi
Motors Corp, Chrysler LLC have also shown interest in making electric cars. Due to rise
in demand for its hybrid electric vehicle Toyota Motors is facing trouble in the US market
in meeting the demand of Prius ­ a hybrid electric vehicle due to shortage in supply of
batteries. Clearly the market is poised to be flooded with the new cars running on
electricity in the coming years with several players.



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On two-wheels: Yet another electric sub set that is exploding in India is the electric
bikes. Battery-powered bicycles dominate. These promise enormous fuel savings
compared to petrol two-wheelers. According to market assessments around 130,000
electric two wheelers were sold in 2007-08. Bulk of these is low powered and low speed
electric two wheelers. They are currently soaring in popularity in Asia with over 10 million
on the roads of China and a yearly production of 500,000 in India from e       ight different
manufacturers.

The electric two wheeler segment has potential to grow as already 7 conventional two
wheelers are sold for every one car sold in India. The market forecasters are taking a
positive look in the e-bike segment. According to a study by research firm AC Nielsen,
this segment will sell 250,000 units a year at the end of 2009 financial year, or about 3
per cent of the total Indian two-wheeler market. As the automakers see less interest in
conventional vehicle segment they are into a fast mode of product development of
electric vehicles. But ebike present special challenges and need customized solutions
(see box Ebikes: explosive growth).

Box

Ebikes: explosive growth

The e-bike industry expects that the oil price hike can boost the sales of e-bikes by at
least 5-10 per cent. According to market estimates presently, the e  -bike market in the
country stands at Rs 450 crore with the involvement of 40 players and it is expected to
grow 10 times within next 4 years in the country. Many of these players are very small.
The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers has only two electric two wheeler
makers as member. The numerous players are targeting the small towns as people move
around in small distances.

While many reports say that sales of small electric two wheelers are booming it is not
corroborated by the sales data regularly published in SIAM reports. SIAM spokesperson
informed that the sales of the only two big companies ­ Electrotherm and TVS Motors
that are members of SIAM do not reflect the ground trend. This could be because of the
small scale nature of the industry where numerous small manufacturers are operating in
the market.

The Ultra Motor India, the New Delhi-based subsidiary of UK's Ultra Motor Co foresees
the Indian market in 2008-09 to grow to around 240,000 units. The company is reportedly
targeting 60,000 units sale this financial year. Ahmedabad based Electrotherm India also
plans to sell same number of units this year. The company also plans to augment its
dealer network to 300 by the end of this year. Another company, Hero Electric is
expanding its business. During first year of operation last financial year it has sold 20,000
units and aiming to sell 70,000 units this year. Southern states contributed 40 per cent of
its total sales.

The bicycle makers are also reviving their fortunes by producing e-bikes. The Tube
Investments of India Ltd has also announced that it would introduce its new e-bike under
its popular bicycle brand BSA, and plans to begin production and churn out 4,000-5,000
e-bikes a month. Mainstream petrol two wheeler maker ­ TVS Motor Co is making
Scooty Teenz Electric a scooter. Other players are Atlas cycles, Ace Motors, Avon
Cycles. Electrotherm has launched high speed and high-powered electric two wheelers to
bring them at par with the mainstream scooter category. This has been done to entice
people from relatively high-powered petrol two wheelers to electric two wheelers.




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This prospective growth of these vehicles has brought forth concerns over bottlenecks
that continue to plague this segment. These are still constrained by high costs, limited
driving range and speed, and lack of adequate infrastructure for charging, replacement of
batteries and battery disposal facilities. India will therefore have to focus on the
preparedness of the industry to cope up with new segment.

3. Hurdles: charging facilities

As the vehicle numbers begin to grow, cities will have to invest in charging infrastructure.
Without public charging infrastructure, these vehicles can be used only by those who
have access to closed garages with internal power sockets. Delhi government has not yet
made plans for charging infrastructure. According to the environment department officials
such schemes will be planned after the numbers attain a critical mass.

Recently the union ministry of new and renewable energy has announced that it would
give subsidy to a large network of charging stations established by the companies.
Providing facilities for leasing of batteries and central charging facility are also considered
as a step-forward for promotion of battery-operated vehicles.

Bangalore has begun to install plug points in shopping complexes, malls and some office
parking lots. The IT companies like Wipro in Bangalore has a special area in parking lot
called the green zone for electric vehicles and they have plug points. In other countries,
London has over a 160 charge points and is planning to increase this to 1000 plug points
by the end of the year. France has over a 1000 plug points for electric vehicles.

The costs of charging stations are estimated to be substantially lower than the liquid fuel
pumps. Maini suggests, "the government could look at the public places like airports,
railways stations, public transport stations where certain number of plug points can be
provided through a public private partnership".

Costs hurdles: Electric vehicle industry highlights the consumer benefit from electric
vehicles as having less running costs than internal combustion engines. Technically also
the conversion of electrical energy into motive power is significantly more efficient than
burning fuel in an internal combustion engine and as electricity costs significantly less
than oil, the operating cost per kilometre falls to a fraction of that in a petrol car. However,
consumer's choices hardly reflect an eye for lifecycle costs of operating vehicles and
mostly it is based on the upfront cost of a vehicle.

IEA's `2008 Outlook for hybrid and electric vehicles' states for a large proportion of
vehicle buying public, purchase price is the most important criterion when choosing a
vehicle. The general public is not aware of the vehicle life cycle costs and how these
costs compare among different propulsions alternatives. Because of higher price of
hybrid and electric vehicles, most buyers choose a conventional vehicle.

Reva's upfront cost is higher or comparable to many small petrol cars. But in terms of
lifecycle cost it is estimated to be lower. The company claims that the running cost of car
even after including the battery replacement its much cheaper compared to a petrol car.
Cheap electricity charges are amongst one of the reasons. (See box: electric-onomics)

However, fiscal strategies will be needed to make the electric vehicle programme cost
effective. Some have expressed concern that electric cars can face competition from
ultra-low cost cars like the Tata Motor's Nano that at the current prices will cost a third of
what a Reva costs. However, at high oil prices a Reva may still cost less due to cheaper
electricity.

Box: Electric-onomics


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According to Reva company, the running cost of its electric car is only Rs 0.40 per km
vis-à-vis Rs 4.5 per km for a small petrol car. Therefore an average person saves up to
Rs 4,500 to Rs 5,000 per month for traveling about 1,200 km per month. So annually
there is a saving of Rs 60,000 and over a five-year period one saves around Rs 250,000
to Rs 275,000.

Even after battery replacement that costs around Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000 one saves over
Rs 200,000 over a five-year period. So in Delhi the base model retails at Rs 299,000 but
once Rs 200,000 savings is deducted then the net capital investment differential is only
Rs 100,000.

When a person buys a car through finance a gives say Rs 5,000 on EMI but also spends
Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 on petrol expenses. But in case of Reva one spends around Rs
6,000 to Rs 6,500 for EMI but spends only Rs 4,00 to Rs 500 on electricity, so on a
monthly basis the net cash outflow is very minimal.

Other advantage is that if you have an electric car you have lower maintenance costs as
there are no oil filters, air filters, spark plugs, radiators.


Batteries hurdles: Battery-operated vehicles require frequent replacement of batteries
because of short life of batteries. According to IA-HEV's 2008 Outlook "in certain markets
there is a lack of confidence in electric powered vehicles that is the result of battery
problems in past, and despite the fact these problems have been eliminated,
successfully". In India currently most electric vehicles run on lead-acid batteries which are
relatively low in cost compared to other battery technologies but provide limited driving
range of the vehicle per battery charge and have a short life. Besides performance
limitations of lead acid batteries, the major constituent of these batteries ­ lead is a
known environmental hazard with serious health consequences.

However, EVs cannot be singled out for battery disposal problems. Despite widespread
use of lead-acid batteries in all kinds of automobiles other than electric vehicles as well,
the ill-handled recycling of battery waste and substandard production techniques are
blamed for high exposures. Compared to other batteries the lead-acid batteries cost less
and on a limited scale fulfill the requirements of automotive applications. With easy
availability of raw materials its production is a well-established sector and once it is
scrapped almost all components are recycled.

"Currently, all car batteries are made of lead and sulfuric acid. B    oth are dangerous,
however, once contained in the battery casing, they are quite safe during use and
handling. It is during the production and recycling phase of lead batteries that it becomes
a problem for human health and the environment. During manufacturing and recycling
lead is melted." says Perry Gottesfeld, Executive Director of Occupational Knowledge
International. He further explains that this process creates fumes that are inhaled by the
workers as well as emissions to local communities and the larger environment. Lead
settles in dust and soil where it persists forever. Most children get most of their exposure
from contaminated dust and soil. Research must improve the life of lead batteries.

Maini says, "Currently we use lead acid batteries, and to extend the battery life and range
we have a patented energy management system that manages the flow of the energy in
the car and battery system. We are today working on lithium ion battery technologies,
which we feel, will be introduced next year as an option. And the good thing is that such
new technologies are compatible with cars that we manufacture today."




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OK International is working towards universal environmental standard adoption by
companies to address the environmental and occupational health impacts of the lead
battery-manufacturers. Under its Better Environmental Sustainability Targets (BEST)
Standard certification program the battery manufacturers are required to meet specific
emission standards and develop a system to take back used batteries for environmentally
sound recycling. Those companies who meet these criteria are qualified to place the
BEST eco-label on their batteries. In India already two companies are very close to
getting certified.

More miles per battery: The range of electric vehicles ­ how far it can go on one
charge, continues to remain a challenge from the consumer point of view. International
Energy Agency think tank on hybrid and electric vehicles -- IA-HEV in its `2008 Outlook
for hybrid and electric vehicles' points out that the range of electric vehicles is still too
small, even though it would be sufficient for the majority of vehicle trips.

Efforts are being made by the companies to develop and deploy newer types of
rechargeable batteries, which have higher energy and power densities. In India in small
powered and short range electric vehicles lead-acid batteries are used, however, globally
other technologies are also in use, for instance, in most hybrid electric vehicles nickel
metal hydride batteries are which have better performance. Experts say that use of
lithium ion batteries for automotive application can ultimately revive the EVs and bring
them at par with performance delivered by conventional vehicles.

Most advancement is being made with Lithium Ion batteries. They are lighter, have over
double the life span and four times the charge of Lead Acid batteries. Lithium Ion
batteries will most likely be used to power a future electric fleet. Currently these batteries
have a common use in mobiles and laptops. These batteries have a much longer life
expectancy than lead acid batteries.

In a major review of status and prospects of zero emission vehicle technologies in
California by an expert panel led by Michael P Walsh in 2007 found that the both nickel
metal hydride and lithium ion battery chemistries appear to provide performance and life
cycle performance necessary for customers, however cost of these batteries remains an
issue. According to this study only a few battery types have the potential to meet the
combination of power and energy density requirements for full electric vehicles and
research indicates that only lithium ion batteries can be designed to meet the
performance requirements of small and midsize full performance battery electric vehicles,
all types of partial hybrid electric vehicles, and full hybrid electric vehicles. All other
battery types either have restrictions with respect to their zero emission vehicles and
partial zero emission applicability, or they require compromises with respect to battery
weight and vehicle performance.

In India as well several promising technologies at various maturity levels are vying to
become the next technology alternative. Reva is assessing the usability of lithium Ion and
lithium polymer batteries for automobile application, which can achieve a driving range of
up to five times the lead acid battery for the same weight of battery. Replacing lead-acid
batteries with lithium ion batteries can substantially reduce the weight of the batteries that
current electric cars carry. Even the lithium Ion batteries can be charged at a higher rate
and according to Reva one could build charge stations that can charge a battery from
zero to full in about an hour. These advantages would immediately overcome several of
the long-standing limitations of the EV.

However, safe recycling of even this battery technology remains a challenge. "Lithium ion
batteries also contain a range of hazardous metals including cobalt, lithium, and
sometimes manganese. The biggest concern is that the infrastructure for safely recycling




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these batteries is not developed. One additional concern with lithium ion batteries is if
they may explode and/or cause severe fires" according to Gottesfeld.

Another prime concern of advancement of battery technology is increase in cost.
According to Maini, "[With lithium ion batteries] the cost would be higher, the weight
would be lesser and the driving range would increase. You would probably have
consumers who would like more performance that would want to opt for the lithium ion
and such technologies. And for people, who drive 30-40 kms a day, lead acid gives you
80 kms which is more than sufficient. Most of the people, drive less than 50 kms a day,
so lead acid makes perfect sense."

Competition from its hybrid cousin: Hybrid vehicle technology is an offshoot of the EV
experiment. This helps to overcome the operational shortcomings of electric vehicles. Its
market is growing globally. In India as well the government has reduced the excise duty
on hybrid vehicles and the carmakers like Mahindra and Mahindra and Tata Motors have
shown their interest in developing hybrids. Though currently the share of hybrid electric
vehicle's share in car sales is small which is below 1 per cent in many European markets
and little higher 2.2 per cent in US. But future seems to be bright with the availability of
large number of new models and variants of existing models, the global market of hybrid
vehicles could more than triple by 2012, compared to 2007 sales, according to IA -HEV
2008 Outlook.

Experts say that hybridization makes sense in bigger vehicles due to higher fuel economy
benefits. Maini says, "Globally the costs to convert a petrol car into a hybrid car, the
amount of extra money you pay for hybrids today do not payback i terms of fuel
                                                                          n
economy. I think that India as a market is going to be price sensitive and if you are going
to have a premium for hybrids, they don't payback." Also the fuel economy of hybrid
vehicles is realized only when they run in "stop-and-go" traffic otherwise hardly there is
any fuel economy advantage of using a hybrid car. According to Maini, "with hybrids the
increase in fuel economy is between 5 to 30 per cent depending on the type of hybrid
technology you are using."

Down the line all these technologies will coexist and consumers will start to make their
decisions based on what they like. Says Maini, "I don't think there is going to be a Holy
Grail answer in the next 3 ­ 5 years. But in the meantime what this will do is show people
the options available, create more awareness on clean technologies and change
perceptions to something I could buy. All of these vehicles today are creating an
awareness that 3-5 years ago was lacking in the country."

4. Vicious recycle

In India there are several backyard recyclers who source the old batteries from markets
and remove the lead plates by breaking them. The lead contaminated acid of the old
batteries is discharged into the local drains. The recovered battery plate is melted and the
recovered lead is sold. Lead acid batteries are generally 97-98 per cent recyclable and
more than 80 per cent of all lead production goes into the making of lead batteries.

Therefore, with growing market of EVs certain policy safeguards are needed as the most
crucial part of EV technology in India is lead-acid batteries, which pose greater
environmental threat if not handled cautiously and scientifically while recycling and
disposal. The threat of unsafe recycling practices can be disastrous.

According to a recent CPCB's assessment in the Bhiwadi industrial area in Rajasthan
that falls in National Capital Region revealed along with the registered recyclers several
illegal recyclers of battery scrap have emerged. In this area, the CPCB found that the
lead concentration in ambient air in the range of 0.99 microgram per cubic metre to 13.21


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microgram per cubic metre, such high concentrations. CPCB also monitored three lead
recycler units for `source emissions' it found all the units exceeded the standards for
particulate matter of 50 milligram per normal cubic metre mainly due to improper
maintenance of stack. There are several other incidences across India.

In developing countries lead battery manufacturers typically do not collect but a small
percentage of used batteries for proper recycling. Perry Gottesfeld, Executive Director,
OK International says "In India it is about 20 per cent versus the legal requirement calling
for 90 per cent. As the industry is growing rapidly, backyard recycling is just going to
become more common unless we do something about this situation to prevent additional
lead poisoning and environmental contamination". Gottesfeld adds, "As the demand for
electric vehicles grows so to does the demand for lead batteries. The same is true for
hybrid cars. As such, it is imperative for battery manufacturers to take a more
responsible approach to the collecting and proper recycling of these batteries."

Current laws and regulations, especially in developing countries, do not do enough to
curb the problems with backyard recycling and the general lack of collection of used
batteries by the battery manufacturers. In India, the Battery Handling Rules state that
lead battery manufacturers must collect 90 percent of their used batteries. However, the
law does not say how this should happen (e.g. with a deposit or discount scheme).
Current estimates place the actual collection rate at around 20 percent in India.
Furthermore, many used batteries are sold at auctions (especially by government and
railways) to "registered" recyclers that create a market for them to be re-sold to various
"end users". The auctions are likely perpetuating the problem of improper recycling of
lead batteries.

According to Maini, "At the end of life for lead acid batteries, we as a manufacturer take
them back and take them official recyclers and over 99.5 per cent is recycled. So there is
no real issue of pollution or in terms of waste of a resource or anything. And we see that
as technology evolves we come out with more and more innovative options for
consumers."

5. Regulations

The EV programme demands effective regulations covering automobile's roadworthiness,
safety features, power sources and lifecycle emissions, recycling of battery, and end-of-
life regulations, which require for use of r
                                           ecyclable materials in construction of vehicles.
These measures are necessary as the electric vehicles meet the mainstream, real world
of the automobiles.

ARAI has already put in place a certification system for electric vehicles. However, there
are serious concerns regarding the ebikes that often dodge regulations due to regulatory
loopholes. They have very low speed and power and relatively small range. These do not
require a license to drive. Most of them circumvent the minimum power requirement
specified in the CMVR and escape certification (see box e-bikes: regulatory challenge).
Market observers say that for the exemption from the certification these vehicles are not
supposed to have speed of over 25kmph. But in reality many of them do and have motor
of higher capacity.

Another big concern is that numerous small electric vehicle manufacturers do not have
adequate manufacturing or service back up, which is critical for such a product which
requires care for safety, drivability and road-worthiness. They also do not have spare
parts. Market observers feel that all this creates a very negative image in the minds of
people that can badly affect the growth of this industry in the medium and long run.




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Even in the case of electric cars, the safety requirements should be kept in mind while
product development. It is said that in other countries models of electric vehicles are
small, lightweight cars and are designed exclusively for limited urban operating
environments. In Europe and Asia these smaller vehicles are classified as "quadricycles"
and companies such as Reva, Mega, Renault, Citroën and Peugeot are the players.
Reva G-Wiz that are popular in Europe are actually quadricycle vehicles which are not
designed to meet the same safety standards of a regular light passenger car.

Government should also consider encouraging EVs with non monetary measures such
as parking lots with free recharge for electric vehicles, or entry rules for certain areas
such as car free zones that are accessible only for zero emission vehicles are very
helpful in raising awareness about clean vehicles.

As the EV market expands more proactive and effective implementation of battery
regulations will be needed and as more electrical and electronic components are used
the E-waste from vehicles will emerge which currently exists for computers and other
electronic components. Therefore "End of Life" regulations for vehicles which requires
recycling of vehicles once they complete their lives and are scrapped for safe disposal is
needed in India.

Box
E bikes: Regulatory challenge

Central Motor Vehicles Act and Rules (CMVR) exempts low-speed electric vehicles that
have maximum power less than 250 W and speed less than 25 kmph from type approval
requirements. These are not categorized as motor vehicles and the transport rules are
not applicable to them. Driving licenses are also not required. As these low speed e-bikes
are exempt from the CMVR rules, there is no regulatory mechanism for quality and
roadworthiness checks of these vehicles manufactured by numerous small
manufacturers. As a result of that many small players have flooded the markets with
products that don't meet statutory requirements.

Other electric vehicles fall under the normal category of motor vehicles and hence require
type approval certificate.

The low speed loophole in e-bikes should be plugged, as roadworthiness of any
automobile cannot be compromised in the long-term. Also it will ultimately improve the
overall technology image of EVs. A SIAM spokesperson says that "They must be doing
their internal checks for quality and ultimately the market acceptance will decide their
fate." But before the market abandons the poor technology EVs, regulatory efforts should
be made so that public money is not wasted on poor technology.

Maini suggests that these small vehicles should clubbed as electric bicycles instead of
electric vehicles and have a separate certification process for them. And there should be
some levels of awareness or some simple certification process so that more
manufacturers are encouraged to produce vehicles and at the same time show that they
are quality products, which can be something equivalent to an ISI mark. So people would
know how a certain product would perform.


6. Zero on road, emissions elsewhere

When a lifecycle viewpoint is taken then emissions at power stations are also considered.
Even on this account electric vehicle fair relatively well. However a lot depends on where




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the power is sourced from, if it from a polluting, inefficient power plant using poor quality
coal than the emissions can be higher.

In India such estimations have not been done. In China where a large number of electric
bikes are in use scientists are attempting to understand the lifecycle emissions.
According to research conducted by scientists at the University of California the carbon
dioxide (CO2) and many other criteria pollutant emissions like carbon monoxide, organic
compounds, particulate matter, and oxides of nitrogen emissions are lower for electric-
two wheelers. But emissions of sulfur dioxide and solid waste from electric two wheeler
operation are significantly higher than conventional motorcycles. Life-cycle analysis
shows these cause 2.7 g/km of solid waste (63 percent from coal combustion and 14
percent from the b   attery waste) compared with 1 g/km for the motorbike. Also the lead
emissions from electric two wheelers are estimated as high as 5       ­10 g/100km due to
inefficiencies in the dispersed, small-scale lead production and recycling process.

When emissions from p     ower plants are considered and understood in terms of per
electric vehicle operation then it emerges that sourcing power from renewable will
actually make the electric vehicles truly zero emitters. According to estimates done by
IEA, India's power station efficiency is low by international standards, and India's power
sector is one of the most CO2 intensive in the world. Power stations emitted on average
943 gram of CO2 per kWh of electricity produced in 2005 ­ which is 50 per cent higher
than the world average. If we translate this for an electric car using 9 units of electricity
for running 80 kms means emissions of 8.487 kgs of CO2 for 80 kms which translates
into CO2 emissions of about 106 gm of CO2 emissions per km of travel. But it is still very
low compared to a conventionally fuelled car.

Therefore, how electricity is sourced to drive the EVs influence the lifecycle emissions.
There can be significant benefit if electricity is sourced from renewable sources. As per
estimates done in UK by Reva when emissions are included those generated at the
power station than it stands at 63 gm CO2 per km for the G-Wiz (Reva is sold in this
name) but when it is charged with renewable electricity virtually zero gms CO2 / km can
be realized. The total energy required for a full charge is 9.66 Kwhr. Based on the G-Wiz
maximum range of 48 miles or 77 km, the total energy required is 9.66 Kwhr or 7.5Km
per Kwhr.

Further assuming that 1Kwhr of energy produces 470 grams of CO2 if charged using
electricity from a power station (based on the UK's Primary Fuel mix), then this works out
to 470 grams of CO2 per 7.5 km or 62.6 gms/km. In the independent study done by Dr.
Ben Lane of the EcoLane Consultancy, the number is similar - 66 gms/km. In UK the
average emissions from all cars is 170 gms CO2 per km, and the cleanest hybrid car has
(Toyota Prius) 104 gms CO2 per km.

In the real world city driving condition where the traffic moves in "stop-and-go" mode due
to idling of vehicles there are dead mileage, which increases the CO2 emissions. In such
a situation an electric vehicle wins. Expains Chetan Maini, "What people do not take into
consideration is that electric cars have regenerative braking which puts back all the
energy during stop and go traffic for use. Idling for electric cars doesn't mean energy loss
like a regular car which loses significant portion when idling."

Therefore, as the power efficiency improves and power is sourced from renewable
energy sources one can hope electric cars will become truly zero emitters.

7. Sign post

The recent rush towards the electric vehicles shows desperation of the automakers and
consumers to look for cheaper alternatives to petrol and diesel. The choice however is


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good, as these replace polluting cars and two wheelers with near zero emitters. The
electric vehicles will truly become zero emitters only when these source electricity from
electricity from renewable sources. Fiscal incentives alone cannot make EVs a
mainstream vehicle. Issues in car technology, charging infrastructure, power sources and
safe disposal of batteries, -- all will have to be looked at holistically to make this
programme sustainable and achieve the desired objectives.

--- Compiled by Vivek Chattopadhyay




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