an EV Revolution is waiting to happen

a 2008 video of Tesla’s Elon Musk talking about affordable electric vehicles (EV) is going viral these days. the video is from a time when his company was barely staying afloat and people were questioning the relevance of EVs — if they even had the capabilities to go mainstream. just 13 years later, Tesla is the EV market leader and is eyeing 1.3 million deliveries in 2022. 

but the hero of this story is neither Musk nor Tesla. it is the EV that has become the vehicle of choice across the globe. and the year 2022 is going to propel the EV reach even further. 

back home, the four-wheeler EV market leader Tata Motors is planning to launch Altroz EV in 2022, joining the existing brands Tigor EV and Nexon EV. the automaker also is building the necessary infrastructure for completing the product suite in its electric vehicle division. 

the switch to electric

with fuel prices on the rise, consumers are now opting for battery-powered vehicles. because of this, sales have gone up for EV makers. Tata Motors, for instance, saw a four-fold increase in EV sales in November. 

Tigor EV and Nexon EV together sold 1,751 units in November compared to just 413 a year ago. in August, the carmaker expanded its portfolio with the addition of an updated Tigor EV, which was launched at a price of Rs 11.99 lakh.

meanwhile, Hyundai is planning to relaunch Kona Electric with a facelift in India next year. its electric sedan Ioniq 5 is also expected to be available from the mid-next year as a fully imported model. rival company Mahindra, which plans to launch 16 EVs by 2027, is looking to onboard investors in the coming year to fund its electric dreams. 

big international players such as Tesla and Nissan have also announced their India-entry plans. however, the timelines for their product launches haven't been released yet. on the two-wheeler front, Munjal Group-entity Hero MotoCorp, too, is going electric with its battery-powered scooter in March 2022. 

startups in this space are going to have an action-packed 2022 as well. Ola Electric, which launched its electric scooters S1 and S1 Pro in August 2021, has overseas ambitions for next year. 

regulations are also being tweaked to encourage the green switch. in the US, the President Joe Biden-led administration is planning to offer an EV tax credit for buying electric vehicles. a move that will benefit buyers of Tesla models. 

in India, too, various state governments have responded to the environmental needs by forming policies on electric vehicles. Maharashtra, for instance, is planning to bring at least 146,000 new battery-operated EVs on state roads by 2025 under its draft EV policy 2021. this policy will also incentivize the purchase of EV cars and two-wheelers while imposing a green tax on polluting petrol/diesel vehicles. 

EV infrastructure is evolving

to enable the adoption of EVs, charging infrastructure and manufacturing plants are coming up in full force in 2022. this is to battle range anxiety among customers. 

electric vehicle startup Ather Energy is planning to set up 500 fast-charging stations by March 2022. the brand has already tied up with coffee chains, malls, and gyms to expand the charging network, where two-wheelers can be charged in under 30 minutes. 

in addition, another Munjal-family entity, Hero Electric, has planned to set up 1 lakh EV charging stations across India. under this plan, the company, in partnership with EV charging startup Charzer, will establish 10,000 charging stations across 30 cities in 2022 itself. 

a centralized mobile application to locate charging stations is also on the anvil. this will assist EV owners, especially on long drives and in remote locations.

what’s next on the electric plate?

a nudge from the central government will also help speed up the pace of product sales in the country. the FAME scheme has already been implemented to help cut manufacturing costs and offer better on-road vehicle prices. so far, Rs 278 crore worth of incentives have been provided to produce 92,393 electric vehicles in the can we haecountry.

while financial incentives to go green may nudge vehicle buyers to opt for EVs, a slight dampener is on its way in 2022. price hikes are expected next year on account of an increase in the costs of lithium-ion batteries used in EVs. but considering the Rs 110 per liter petrol price, EVs will still work out to be cheaper.