As vehicle electrification has started gaining traction, it opens new mobility avenues for India to tap into. At present, electric vehicles represent a magnitude of growth never seen before and India is all set to position itself as a leader of the EV marketplace.
However, to ride on the electric wave experts in the current edition of ETAuto EV Conclave 2019, pointed out the country needs to strengthen its EV charging infrastructure in order to integrate and boost the domestic electric mobility ecosystem.
"The current outlook in energy and mobility sectors have recently seen the evolution of several trends that will come to define the direction of their growth for the foreseeable future. The drive for electrification has seen the rise of electric vehicles (EVs) that function as a cleaner and considerably more energy efficient modes of transport. It is predicted that by 2030, EVs will constitute a third of all new automobile sales. Two-wheeler and three-wheelers are largely considered to the be first two segments to adopt electrification," said Nabeel A Khan, Editor, ETAuto, in his welcome note of the conclave held here.
Underlining the limitations that are majorly coming from infrastructure side, he said that despite the clear advantages that the technology provides, electric mobility solutions are still restricted to cars and two-wheelers and a bit to buses and have not yet moved towards integration with urban infrastructure. "In addition to this, EVs still suffer from a lack of charging points at adequate and strategic locations, thus hampering the potential for widespread utilization. Let me tell charging is the second biggest reason for not buying EVs. According to a KPMG report, 24 percent of buyers find this as a key reason to stay away from EV."
Delivering his keynote address, Head of ABB's Global Business for Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure, Frank Muehlon said that the to encourage adoption of EVs in the country charging infrastructure and renewable power generation are the prime requirements. He acknowledged India's efforts to not only the stick to country-bound standards but extending its reach to adopt global regulations of vehicle electrification which in fact opened prospects to increase demand.
"OEMs in India are converging to global standards like CCS and ChaDemo. Country's organizations like NITI, BIS and ARAI Ministries took right steps to embrace international regulations instead of generating again another one which would lack sale," he added.
He further said that grid enforcement for EV charging ecosystem will only make sense when the energy consumed will be from a renewable source. "Only 15 to 16 percent of the energy used for charging in India is in the form of renewable. At ABB we are targeting to take this up to 40 percent in the next couple of years," he noted.
In the end, he also underlined the need to transition from a centralized to a distributed grid framework in order to make the whole EV ecosystem stronger, smarter and cleaner.
In the daylong session, the second edition of the event will witness speakers from across length and breadth of the value chain. The conclave will focus on the electric vehicle ecosystem, the government’s steps towards promoting it, the automobile industry’s readiness for EV, the possibility of building economically viable charging infrastructure, and battery technologies that can be improved and adopted.
The ETAuto EV Conclave 2019 is supported by KPMG as knowledge partner, Olecta-BYD, Infineon, Dassault Systems, Greaves as associate partners, SEG Automotive, Bry Air, Padmini VNA Mechatronics PVT Ltd, Pixy Cars as supporting partners, Euclion Energy and EV Motors India as innovation partners, iTriangle as telematics partner and Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) as institutional partner.
