• Electric Vehicles
  • Environment Friendly
  • Convenient
  • Low Maintenance

Electric Vehicles

Quicks Facts

  • 2 Million+ Electric Vehicles Globally
  • 6 Years Average Battery Life
  • 180 Kms Average Run / Charge
  • 250 KM/h Fastest Electric Car

What is an Electric Vehicle ?

An electric vehicle is powered by an electric motor, unlike other vehicles that carry a gasoline engine. An electric vehicle is also called an electric drive vehicle that incorporates one or more electric motors to run. There are various hybrid vehicles available in the industry that carry a gasoline drivetrain and along with that, they use a battery for offering better fuel efficiency figure. On the other hand, electric vehicles run only on electricity. Electric vehicles have been around for a long time, however, in India, these vehicles have not gained much popularity yet due to lack of enough charging stations, limited driving range, long charging hours, etc.

An electric motor draws energy from a controller that regulates the amount of power. These vehicles are eco-friendly and offer high fuel mileage figures. With most of the automakers in India planning on including electric vehicles in their product portfolio in the country, Indian seems to have a bright future for electric vehicles. Homegrown auto marque Mahindra has worked hard in this field and has come up with electric vehicles like Mahindra e2o and Mahindra e2o Plus. With no tailpipe emissions, electric vehicles act as environment-friendly transport options, and also, they have a much lower ownership cost.

Top 10 Global Electric Car Brands

Brand Country Popular Model Average Price
Renault - Nissan Japan Nissan Leaf $30,000
Tesla United States Tesla Model S 85D $69,500
Baic China Baic EC180 $21,300
Zhidou China Zhidou D2 EV $21,400
Geely China Geely Emgrand EV $22,200
JAC China JAC I EV6S $23,500
Hyundai South Korea Hyundai Ioniq Electric $29,500
Zotye China Zotye Cloud EV $24,200
BMW Germany Bmw i3 $43,395
Chevrolet United States Chevrolet Bolt EV $37,495
*as of 2016

Top 10 Most Selling Electric Cars

Car Model Mileage Average Price Top Speed
Tesla Model S 85D 292 Miles $69,500 155 mph
Tesla Model X 295 Miles $98,500 130 mph
Chevrolet Bolt EV 238 Miles $37,495 91 mph
BYD e6 187 Miles $35,000 100 mph
Volkswagen e-Golf 125 Miles $31,345 85 mph
Hyundai Ioniq Electric 125 Miles $29,500 103 mph
Ford Focus Electric 115 Miles $29,120 84 mph
Bmw i3 114 Miles $43,395 93 mph
Nissan Leaf 107 Miles $30,000 93 mph
Kia Soul EV 120 Miles $32,250 90 mph

Top 5 Countries Selling Electric Cars

Country Market Share (%)*
Norway 33.1
Netherlands 5.7
United Kingdom 1.2
United States 0.8
France 0.8
*as of 2015

Top 5 Electric Cars in India

Car Model Mileage* Average Price Top speed
Mahindra e2oPlus 109 Kms 5.71 Lakh 56 mph
Mahindra eVerito 109 Kms 9.50 - 10 Lakh 53 mph
Toyota Camry Hybrid 19.16 Kmpl 31.98 Lakh 116 mph
Honda Accord Hybrid 20.83 Kmpl 37 Lakh 110 mph
Volvo XC90 T8 Plug-in Hybrid 57 Kmpl 1.25 Crore 155 mph
*For Hybrid Cars mileage is considered in Kmpl

Indian Government's Policies On Electric Vehicles

The world’s fifth-largest auto market is ready for the shift, transforming completely towards electric vehicles or EVs by 2030. It is estimated that this massive shift will cut country’s oil bill by $60 billion approximately and reduce emission by 37% (1 gigatonne), and control the demand for road infrastructure over next 13 years. Being part of government's vision, recently Nitin Gadkari (Road Transport Minister, India) clearly mentioned “We should move towards alternative fuel… I am going to do this, whether you like it or not”.

The government is all set to roll out a nationwide electric vehicle policy by December this year. The policy will define the standards and specifications, for the vehicles both light and heavy (like cars and buses), along with the guidelines to incentivize their use. And it is also expected to provide clarity on the rules and subsidies regarding manufacturing & batteries. The first pilot project was successfully launched in Nagpur, Maharashtra, and the state government has waived various taxes for EVs.

Battery and infrastructure are the two major areas where the government is looking into right now to bring this transformation.

Expensive batteries are one of the major reasons for the higher cost of EVs, owing to a lower demand. Though there has been a decline in the prices, from $600 per battery unit in 2012 to $250 in 2017. However, a further drop is expected to $100 by 2014 to make it cheaper than the capital cost of a petrol vehicle. The reports also suggest that government is planning to set up a manufacturing unit for batteries.

The government is planning to see 6 million electric and hybrid vehicles on Indian roads by 2020 under the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan 2020 and Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME India Scheme).

Currently, subsidies of up to ₹29,000 and ₹1.38 lakh on electric and hybrid bikes and cars is available under FAME India Scheme, but the plan is to make it economically viable on its own.

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Future of Electric Vehicles in India

The EVs have caught the fancy of automakers around the world, and India is no exception. Earlier this year, Piyush Goyal (Power Minister) announced, “We are going to make electric vehicles self-sufficient like Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA). The idea is that by 2030, not a single petrol or diesel car should be sold in the country”. Later, NITI Aayog also called for only electric vehicles to be sold in India by 2030.

But, India is not the only one with such stiff targets, there are few other countries joining the bandwagon. Norway plans to ban all petrol and diesel or non-EV/ cars by 2025 and Germany is willing to run only electric cars by 2030.

With the governments around the world planning to make a shift to electric vehicles only, automotive industry globally has a reason to explore the opportunities in this sector.

The push for electric vehicles will significantly transform country’s energy security priorities, as securing lithium supplies; a key raw material for making batteries, will be as important as oil and gas fields.

The expansion of electric vehicle market will give a big boost to the Indian economy and significantly change the landscape of the Indian automobile industry. As country shifts the gears to adopt EVs, there will be a higher demand for new, efficient vehicle components like high-density batteries, electric traction motors and charging infrastructure. The current breed of manufacturers and suppliers need to quickly scale up with better collaboration, smart investment, and establish global ties to know new technologies. Also, Indian Space Research Organization is allowing companies to get innovative lithium-ion technology, while NTPC and Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd are also entering this space, and Mahindra and Tata are building a strong product portfolio.

The growing opportunities in this field will create new jobs, and with well-established auto sector and comparatively lower labour cost, India is in unique position to become a leading player.

Big auto player like Audi India, is all set to launch its electric car by 2020, while Hyundai too plans to launch a hybrid car. Mahindra is also on track to electrify its XUV Aero, and soon we would be able to see an all green Aero. All the major automakers are focusing on electric vehicles only, and many are que to transform their non-EVs to EV.

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News of Electric Vehicles

Can the Indian car market go all-electric by 2030?

Published On: 9 June 2017

The government has set an ambitious target to sell only electric cars in the country by 2030.

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Mahindra Will Launch KUV100 Electric in 2018

Published On: 11 October 2017

The car, when launched, will be Mahindra's third offering in the electric passenger vehicle segment.

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