Context :
Extract :
The parliamentary committee on estimates has recommended the government
for formulation of a comprehensive national
policy on electric vehicles (EV).
In its report on the ‘Evaluation of Electric Vehicle Policy’, the panel chaired by member of
parliament Girish Bhalchandra Bapat noted
that Centre had launched the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP)
2020 in 2013 and experiences and feedback on the plan should also be used in formulating a new policy.
“It was believed that with the commitment and support of all
stakeholders, 6-7 million units of
new vehicle sales of EVs, could be achieved by 2020.
The committee note with regret that the target 6-7 million units of EVs
was not achieved as only around 1.4
million electric vehicles were being used on the roads of India as on 3rd August, 2022. It has been a decade since MHI had launched the NEMMP
2020," the report said.
It said that the although transport is a state subject and some
states have formulated their own EV policies, a “strong National Policy framework on EVs"
needs to be formulated.
“The committee, therefore, urge the government to frame a
comprehensive National Policy on EV by incorporating the elements of successful
state models and international best practices," the committee said in its
report.
The policy should also focus on charging
infrastructure, battery
swapping, battery waste recycling, public
awareness in addition to the demand and
supply side incentives such as,
# lower GST,
# waiving road tax,
# registration fee,
# hire-purchase scheme at discounted
interest rates by financial institutions for
buying EVs
among others.
The panel also suggested ,
# the continuation of the FAME II scheme beyond
March 2024 and also said that
# four wheelers should be included under the scheme to boost
demand.
“The committee recommends that the government should consider
remodelling the subsidy on electric four wheelers similar to that of electric
two wheelers i.e. demand incentive may be increased to at ₹15000 per KWh from at ₹10000
per KWh and the cap on incentives for Electric 4 Wheelers may be
increased to 40% of
the cost of vehicles from 20% cost
of vehicles."
The government may also consider incentivizing a range of the vehicle in addition to the subsidy being given on per unit power of
the battery.
Noting that several states have waived off or reduced the road
tax on EVs and these states are not getting any compensation for the loss of
revenue, Centre said that the committee said that Centre should
compensate states for the waiver and reduction.
“The committee believe that this will encourage
all the states to provide such waiver on road tax on EVs, which will result in
faster adoption of EVs all over the country."
MY
TAKE :
Extract :
( FAME = Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of
Hybrid and Electric Vehicles )
National E Mobility Mission Plan [ NEMP – 2012 ]
7 million E Vehicles on the roads by 2020
enter FAME
2015 Target > By
2030, all vehicles on Indian
roads should be Electric ( - some 300 million ? )
2016 Target > By
2030 , 25 % of the vehicles on
Indian roads should be electric ( - 75 million ? )
FAME II ( Ap 19 – Mar 22 ) - 3 Years
EVs to get Cheaper
Highlights of FAME II :
# Scheme starts
on …………………………….. 01 April 2019
# Total value of Subsidy
Package …………. Rs 10,000 Crore
# Charging Stations ( Rs 1,300 Cr
)………….2,700
Current Targets / Subsidy Amounts :
|
Type of E Vehicle
/ Battery Capacity (KWh)
|
Target
Number ( 3 YR )
|
Subsidy
Amount / Maximum Veh Price (Rs )
|
End
Use prescribed
|
|
Buses
|
7,090
|
35-60
lakh / 2 crore
|
Public
Transport
|
|
Cars (
Hybrid ) / 15 - 25
|
20,000
|
5000-20,000 / 15 lakh
|
Taxi /
Aggregator
|
|
Cars (
Electric ) / 15 - 25
|
35,000
|
1.5 - 2.5
lakh / 15 lakh
|
Taxi /
Aggregator
|
|
3
Wheelers / 5
- 10
|
500,000
|
50,000-1
lakh / 5 lakh
|
Commercial
|
|
2 Wheeler / 2
– 4
|
1,000,000
|
20K-40K / 1.5
lakh
|
Private use
|
===================================================
Are these targets
achievable ?
Following figures speak for themselves :
|
Type
of E - Vehicle
|
Target
for 3 years
|
Therefore
Per Year
|
Actual
EV sold in 17-18
|
|
Buses
|
7,090
|
Approx.
2,300
|
Less than 200 ?
|
|
Cars (
Hybrid )
|
20,000
|
Approx.
7,000
|
NIL
|
|
Cars (
Electric )
|
35,000
|
20,000
|
1,200
|
|
3 Wheelers
|
500,000
|
175,000
|
132,000 (
low cap Ricks )
|
|
2 Wheelers
|
1,000,000
|
333,000
|
58,400
|
===================================================
How much of above targets are likely to be
achieved ?
|
Type
of Veh
|
17-18(Actual)
|
18-19(Est)
|
19-20(Est)
|
20-21(Est)
|
3yr
total(E)
|
3yr
Target
|
%age
likely
|
|
Buses
|
200
|
500
|
750
|
1000
|
2,250
|
7090
|
32
|
|
Cars ( Hy )
|
Nil
|
500
|
1,000
|
2,000
|
3,500
|
20,000
|
17.5
|
|
Cars ( E )
|
1,200
|
3,000
|
5,000
|
7,000
|
15,000
|
35,000
|
43
|
|
3 Wheelers
( excluding E - Ricks with less than 5
KWh battery )
|
132,000
( all sold
were under 5 kwh battery, which do not qualify for subsidy )
|
10,000
( with battery bigger than 5 KWh )
|
15,000
|
25,000
|
50,000
|
500,000
|
10
|
|
2 Wheeler
|
58,400
|
75,000
|
100,000
|
125,000
|
300,000
|
1,000,000
|
30
|
Ref :
https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Documents/public-sector/in-ev-report.pdf
China has 250 million Electric 2
wheelers with annual sales of 30 million
===================================================
What is the reason for this pessimism ?
# Non-availability of “ Fast “ battery charging
stations every few km, resulting in “ range anxiety “ for EV buyers
# Maintenance / Service / Repair garages for Electric
vehicles, on each corner ( new technology poses problems )
# Despite the subsidies, ex-factory prices will still
remain much higher than for equivalent Petrol / Diesel vehicles
# Ramping up production is a very complex and
time-consuming process. Not like turning on a tap !
What , if any , is the shortcoming of just
announced FAME II ?
# It focuses solely on “ Incentivizing the Buyers “ through subsidies
# There are no “ Incentives “ for the
vehicle manufacturers to ramp up production or commercialize “ cost
reducing “ technologies,
especially in the matter of Lithium-ion batteries which constitute up to 40 %
of EV
ex- factory price
# There are no “ dis-incentives “
for manufacture / sale / purchase of Petrol – Diesel vehicles
# Linking the subsidy amounts with
battery size is not the right method . In fact a vehicle with a smaller size
battery , but giving same
performance ( speed – range – charging time etc ) as a vehicle with a bigger
battery, should be
rewarded with higher subsidy !
Efficient
use of input resources must be encouraged
# There is no directive with regard to
scrapping of old ( more than 10 years ) petrol / diesel vehicles
What would you recommend next ?
FAME III ( Apr 22 - Mar
26 ) – 4
years
[ A ]….. MANUFACTURERS
(
A.1 ) Policy Instrument > Corporate
Income Tax for Incentivizing the
manufacturers of
Batteries
Total exemption of Corporate Income
Tax for companies exclusively
engaged in the manufacture of :
# Aluminium-Air Batteries ( No
need for any roadside battery charging
stations ! )
EV juice from Alu-Air Battery ? [ 16 Jan 2018 ]
# Sodium-ion Batteries ( Reduce
battery cost to 10 % of Lithium-ion
Battery cost ! )
# Fuel
Cell ( based on hydrolysis ) developed
by CECRI ( literally FREE
electricity and zero
pollution )
# Other
developments in fast-charging batteries ( under 5 minutes for 80
% charge )
( A.2 ) Abolish Corporate
Income Tax ( for 10 years ) for the entire E
Mobility Eco-System
( A.3 ) Incentivizing the E
Vehicle manufacturers
# E Cars having Solar Rooftop powering a
small Li-ion Battery
Way
back in March 2017 , ISRO demonstrated a OMNI retro-fitted
with a Solar Panel
roof-top , charging a high density Lithium-ion
Battery – eliminating need for roadside charging stations !
Most
likely, such a car would cost under Rs 10 lakh
As
against this , German company SONO MOTORS just released its own final design for a similar
car
with solar roof top and
a 35 KWh battery , selling for Euro
25,500 ( Rs 20.5 Lakh )
Government must go
all out to persuade Indian Car Manufacturers to adopt ISRO technology
Not
only, will we save lakhs of crore of Rupees in Battery Charging Infrastructure
but we would
be able to export millions of such E Cars all over the world
# Policy Instrument > Carbon Credits
Based
on car specifications / assumed average monthly usage etc , figure out
and fix
*
" Carbon Credits " for each model of electric car manufactured
*
Based on Carbon Credits earned , calculate Direct Transfer of Benefit ( DTB )
to electric
car
manufacturers based on monthly dispatches of each model
and
then transfer these amounts from EVFF ( Electric Vehicle Finance Fund ) , as
incentives to
manufacturers
( A.4 ) Dis-incentivize manufacturers for
production of Petrol / Diesel vehicles
This could be achieved by gradually
raising the GST rate for such vehicles, starting from April
2022 and simultaneously gradual reduction in
the GST rate for Electric vehicles
( A.5 ) Incentivizing manufacturers to get into
the “ Recycling of Old Vehicles “
By
ordering to stop usage of old vehicles in Delhi, already a serious problem has
arisen in respect
of their storage and disposal
When applied on all-India basis, this could lead to millions of old vehicles
getting
“ abandoned “ and cluttering the city-scape
But
, this seeming nightmare could be turned into a profitable business opportunity
, by adoption of :
=================================================
[ B ] BUYERS
( B.1 ) Incentivize for
purchase of E Vehicles – especially, leasing of buses
FAME II
( just announced )
Provide
depreciation to private individual buyers
( B.2 ) Incentivize
Retro-fitting of old Petrol / Diesel vehicles ( non-compliant with BS VI norms )
Give
subsidies to “Current Owners of Old Vehicles “ at 150 % of subsidies announced
under FAME II
( B.3 ) Incentivize to
switch-over to E Bikes
Most users of 2 Wheelers (costing Rs
1.5 lakh – 2 lakh ) run for less than 10 Km in a one way trip
For
them , FAME II proposes a onetime subsidy of Rs 20,000 – Rs 40,000
A
cheaper / faster alternative would be to retro-fit a standard / normal cycle ,
costing Rs 15,000 , with a
Geo-Orbital wheel
( costing approx. Rs 20,000 ) to run 30 Km at a speed of 30 kmph
What are the advantages ?
# India
already produces 18 million cycles every year – largest in the world
# All
of these are capable of being retro-fitted by Geo-Orbital wheel
( takes just ONE minute ! )
# Electric
Motor of Geo-Orbital wheel is just
500 Watts !
# Even
if battery gets discharged half way , manual pedaling will work ! No range
anxiety !
# Instead
of giving a subsidy of Rs 40,000 for a factory-built Electric 2 wheeler, a
subsidy of Rs 10,000
for retro-fitting of Geo Orbital wheel, will
enable 4 times as many ( = 4 million ) users to
commute faster !
# Wheel can
be re-charged at home at night , in 3-4 hours
# Bicycle
riding can be done by persons less than 16 years of age and does not require a
driving license !
How
are other countries encouraging cycling for reducing fossil fuel pollution ?
Following
countries are “ paying “ citizens to use cycle :
Per Km run :
# The
Netherlands …… $ 0.22 / km [ =
Rs 14 x 1000 km / month = Rs 168,000 / year ]
# UK
…………………………. $ 0.16 / km [ =
Rs 12 x 1000 km / month = Rs 144,000 / year ]
# Belgium
………………… $ 0.26 / km [ =
Rs 18 x 1000 km / month = Rs 216,000 / year ]
Fixed amount :
# France ………………… $ 230
/ year [ = Rs 16, 100 / year ]
# USA…………………….. $ 240
/ year [ = Rs 16,800 / year ]
Fix Tax rebate to buy bicycle :
# Luxembourg…………. $ 340 [ = Rs 23,800 ]
( B.4 ) Policy
Instrument > Taxing
all Vehicles based on their “ Harm Quotient “ for environment
Dis-incentivize
purchase of Petrol / Diesel vehicles
Instead of spending /
wasting scarce government funds to “ Subsidize “
the buyers for purchase of E
Vehicles, ( and that too, for 3 years ) , it
would be far better to “ dis-incentivize
/ penalize “
them ( and
permanently ), by introduction of Pigovian TRANS-TAX
on each and every vehicle , for its entire life ( no
more “ Old Vehicles “only ), as conceptualized
in detail , at :
Transport : an Integrated Logistic Plan ? [ 20 Nov 2018 ]
==============================================
[ C ] GOVERNMENT
( C.1 ) P0licy
Instrument > Wet
Leasing [ Thank You , Shri Jaitleyji / 25 Dec 2018 ]
Today ,
there is a total disconnect between E Vehicle manufacturers and Battery
Charging Stations
E Vehicle
manufacturers have no incentive to set up charging stations , which, to them
are the
responsibility of the Governments ( Central +
States )
This attitude will change overnight ,
if all government purchases of E Vehicles ( Central + State +
Municipal ) are on a “ WET LEASE “ basis , where the lease rent is
fixed on a “ Per
Km “ of actual usage (
instead of “ Per day / month “ )
For over a year ,
I have been urging EESL to switch-over to this instead
of outright purchase
To ensure that
the E Cars supplied by them to the governments are never stopped because of
battery
discharge ( and
waiting for its 5 hour wait / turn, to get charged at some charging station 10
km away ),
the manufacturers will ensure putting in
place, a vast network of Battery Charging Stations , ON THEIR
OWN !
[ D ] PASSENGERS OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT ( Non-Vehicle Owners )
For
taxis / rickshaws running on Hybrid fuel ( producing less Co2 ) or Electric
Vehicles ( zero emission
) , both , the driver and the passenger will
get " Carbon
Credits " , which
will also get displayed on
the DigiMet as also on the FareCalc Mobile App on the smart
phone of the passenger ( @ 20 % of the
fare payable ? )
These
amounts will get transferred to their respective Jan Dhan Bank Accounts ( thru DTB ) , every
quarter
[ E ] SOLAR POWER for ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Policy Instrument > Amendment to Electricity Act
Anyone can generate and
SELL electricity , anytime and to anyone and at any price !
===================================================
FAME IV [ April 2026 –
March 2030 ] - 4 YEARS
At the end of FAME II
/ FAME III ( 3 + 4 =
7 years ) , government must focus its attention and
efforts on finding and implementing, long term solutions .
Solutions which are aimed at “ Reducing Vehicles “ of all kinds
from roads, by “ Reducing Need to Travel “
Without doubt , these will have following priorities :
# Continuation of the policy of “
Encouraging Public Transport “ ( Buses – Taxies – Metros etc )
# Putting in place , a policy
of “ Shared Transport “ ( of private cars which are barely used for
8 % of the
time )
Going beyond these, “ Need to Travel “ ( in most cases ) , can
be dramatically reduced by ,
# Encouraging “ Remote Working “
# Facilitating Video Conferencing ( eg : Skype
– FaceTime etc )
The steps to achieve these twin objectives , are :
# Nation-wide Internet connectivity ( through
100 Mbps Optical Fibres )
# All Mobile Services to be working on 5G
# Internet through
WIRELINE BROADBAND , coupled with LI-FI in all homes
References :
Dear Shri Girishbhai Bapat
MP – Chair, The
Committee on Estimates
( mpgirishbapatpune@gmail.com / Bapat.girish@sansad.nic.in )
Congratulations for your recommendations for a
NATIONAL EV POLICY ( - which can be a Guideline for
States to base their own State EV Policies
I urge you to take a look at my above-mentioned E Mail
to our Cabinet Ministers and consider incorporating into your ( revised ? )
draft, some of my suggestions
With regards,
Hemen Parekh
www.hemenparekh.ai / 26
March 2023
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