Solar Powered EV : 1,000 Miles with Single Charging ?

 

 

For past couple of months ( since Battery Day ), Elon Musk has been talking of :

Ø  An EV selling for $ 25,000

Ø  Having a Lithium Battery costing $ 50 – 55 per Kwh

Ø  Giving a range of 500 miles per full charge ( 20 – 30 minutes ? )

Ø  Likely to be launched in 2023 ( 3 years )

For past few days, Social Media is abuzz with possibility of TESLA buying out DAIMLER

In next couple of days, can we expect Media to go viral with talk of TESLA buying out APTERA ?

Here is why :

Aptera is a Solar EV company which made following announcement on 04 Dec :

Aptera's Solar-Powered EV Goes From 0 to 60 MPH in 3.5 Seconds

We Learned A LOT About The Aptera Today  /  Clean Technica -  09 Dec 2020

 

 https://www.aptera.us/post/aptera-reveals-first-never-charge-solar-vehicle 

Highlights :

Ø  Aptera Motors today announced it has introduced the first solar electric vehicle (sEV) that requires no charging for most daily use and boasts a range of up to 1,000 miles per full charge

 

Ø  “With Aptera’s Never Charge technology, you are driven by the power of the sun. Our built-in solar array keeps your battery pack topped off and anywhere you want to go, you just go,” says Co-Founder Chris Anthony.

 

Ø  The Aptera vehicle is made of lightweight composites that are many times stronger than steel, allowing its unique body shape to slip through the air with an unheard-of drag coefficient (Cd) of .13.

 

Ø  0-60 MPH in 3.5 sec / Top Speed of 110 MPH 

 

Ø  172" long, 88” wide and 57” high. Aptera has 25 cubic feet of luggage capacity

 

Ø  Weight > 2000 lbs ( 900 Kg )

 

Ø  Integrated solar can be configured to provide up to 45 miles of range per day with over 3 square meters and 180 efficient solar cells designed into the body structure. This makes Aptera the first vehicle capable of meeting most daily driving needs using solar power alone.

 

( Refer : Product Specification Sheet  )

 

Ø  Aptera will be available to pre-order at  www.aptera.us  beginning at 4 p.m. PST on Dec. 4.

 

Ø  Pricing is between $25,900- $46,900+

===================================================

 

You cannot blame Elon Musk if he is tempted to make an offer to buy out Aptera !

Or, for that matter, TATA and MAHINDRA also to queue up !

Even Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles ( SMEV ) may consider approaching Aptera for a licensing agreement

How about NITI Aayog phoning Aptera co-founder, Chris Anthony (chris@epicboats.com / info@aptera.us ) ?

One of the main reasons why EV have not picked up in India is lack of Battery Charging Stations

I think, we have close to 250 stations ( in entire country )

USA has 27,000 EV stations ( and 115,000 petrol / diesel stations ). It is reported that Joe Biden is planning to raise this number to 500,000 in 4 years ( some 304 per day )

China, in 2019, had 560,000 EV stations and adding 1,000 per day !

Our target for EV is : 30 % of India’s entire vehicle fleet by 2030 ( - when we can expect 300 million vehicles )

30 % will be 90 million EVs, to be produced / sold in next 10 years (  9 million per year / as against our total so far of less than 15,000  )  . Or , am I getting confused here ?

This EV production target ( ? ) figure must be viewed in the light of the fact that our current production of ICE ( petrol – diesel ) cars is about 3 MILLION per year  

 

 Read :

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_car_use_by_country

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_vehicle_industry_in_India

https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/electric-vehicle-sales-in-india-up-20-in-2019-20-industry-body-says

 

How many EV charging stations will we need to support these many EVs – considering that even a car equipped with DC fast charging would typically require an hour to get charged to 80 % ?

Read this in the context of Aptera ( 3 wheeler / not a car ), which charges as follows ( ie; if required ) :

110v STD >  :13 miles/ hour  /   500 miles/ hour with rapid DC chargers

[ Refer : Govt mulls installing EV charging kiosks at around 69,000 petrol pumps in country ]

 

Apart from that , we just won’t have enough local Lithium Battery production for these many EVs

Only 2 companies are seriously “ considering “ setting up Battery plants , by end of 2022 !

 

MY  TAKE :

Ø  With a price tag of $ 26,000 ( approx.. Rs 19 lakh + import duty), Aptera ( a 3 Wheeler ) has to be ruled out , even though it eliminates “ range anxiety “, due its solar roof charging

 

Ø  Even if manufactured locally ( under license ), its selling price cannot be brought down to ( say ) Rs 7 lakhs ( similar to price of Kandy Model K 27 - $ 10,000/- after federal tax credits in USA . Kandy sports a Lithium Battery of 17.69 Kwh  ).

In China there are a few similarly priced EV which are quite popular

Ø  Can we modify one of our own locally manufactured ICE vehicles into a Solar Panel Roof charging vehicle, needing a small Lithium battery ( may be 15 Kwh ? – against Aptera’s lowest 25 Kwh ) ?    

Yes , as far back as 2017 , our own ISRO gave a demo of Maruti Omni ( weighing 785 Kg ) , retro-fitted with Solar Panels on its roof !

Read :

            Solar Panels charging Li-ion Batteries of Electric Cars ?..............[ 04 May 2017 ]

            A Breakthrough : in Technology and in Mind-set…………………………..[ 05 June 2017 ]

           3000 Km without a Charging Station ?......................................[ 09 Oct 2017 ]

          #Solarcar #Electriccar ………………………………………………………………………[ 07 Nov 2017 ]

          #ISRO #MSME #ElectricVehicle ………………………………………………………[ 13 Nov 2017 ]

          ISRO : the EV Game-Changer ………………………………………………………….[ 22 Nov 2017 ]

          Let Us go Dutch ! ……………………………………………………………………………….[ 21 Jan 2018 ]

          Holy Grail for Electric Vehicles …………………………………………………………..[ 17 Feb 2018 ]

         #E-Vehicle #ISRO #FAME #Pollution………………………………………………….[ 28 Mar 2018 ]

         At Long Last ?..........................................................................[ 22 July 2018 ]

         Ray , a drop of golden Sun ………………………………………………………………….[ 18 Feb 2019 ]

         E – Car Extrapolation : a Wishful Thinking ?..................................[ 20 Mar 2019 ]

 

         Upon reading this last blog ( sent as E Mail ), I received following replies :

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thu 21-Mar-19 9:48 PM

Dear Hemen, 

  

Many thanks. Congratulations on your vision ! 

 

Keep up your blogs ! 

 

 Best regards, Colin

 

Prof. Sir Colin Humphreys  /  Paragraf

 

 colin.humphreys@msm.cam.ac.uk

 

===================================================


After reading this blog ( sent as email ),

 Shri Sumitesh Das 

 ( Head of Graphene Business Unit - TATA Steel ),  


sent following reply on 04 Oct 2019 :

-----------------------------------------

Dear Shri Hemen Parekh ji,

 

Thank you for your kind mail regarding the endless possibilities of graphene.

 

In particular, the possible usage in cars and buses.

 

Your blog and views expressed therein are visionary.

 

It will take policy makers, scientists and innovators to come together.

 

Do keep up the good work.

 

Best regards.

 

 Sumitesh  /  Sumitesh Das sumitesh.das@tatasteel.com

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Reference :

India requires $ 180 Billion investments in production, charging infra : Study 

Highlights :

Ø  India’s FY30 EV ambition will translate into,

      #   total sales of 102 million vehicles,

      #   annual battery demand of 158 GWh , a

      #   support infrastructure of 2.9 million public charge points by that year.

 As of March 2020, the number of registered EVs in India stood at just half a million

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘Domestic companies have it in them to make India an EV hub’     /   09 Nov

Extract :

Ø  Gadkari admitted that there are EV-specific concerns around batteries, charging and driving range that prevent a large-scale consumer pull, but these issues are being addressed rapidly.

Ø  On charging infrastructure, he said that the government will make sure there are enough charging stations — 50 in each district — so that EV users don’t have to worry about range of the vehicles.

 

Dear Shri Gadkariji,

If I am not mistaken, India has approx. 700 districts. That means, you are talking of 35,000 EV charging stations. My guess is that this will take nearly 5 years , even if govt succeeds in installing 20 stations EVERY DAY ! ( - against present rate of 1 station every WEEK ? )

I urge you to inquire with Dr K Sivan ( Director – ISRO ) if his team can come up with a Solar Roof Panel powered car ( no more than 900 Kg weight ) which can compete with Aptera – then give away technology - licenses to Indian car manufacturers for FREE

That is the ONLY WAY your dream of making India an EV hub can come true

With regards,

Hemen Parekh / hcp@RecruitGuru.com / 10 Dec 2020  

 

 

 

 

           ISRO CONVERTS A MARUTI OMNI INTO A SOLAR HYBRID ELECTRIC CAR  [ 04 May 2017 ]

How 25 Jodhpur engineers developed a world class Solar Car    [ 19 Jan 2017 ]

 

Production Linked Incentive for Rice ( Paddy )

 

 

Dear Shri Tomarji,

In my following e mail of yesterday, I suggested introduction of a Production Linked  Incentive ( PLI ) scheme for agricultural crops ( in addition to continuation of existing MSP scheme )

https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2020/12/how-about-introducing-pli-for.html

 

Here is a Conceptual Frame-work :

Ø  Through the proposed INCENTIVE FORMULA , we want to INCENTIVIZE all farmers to implement latest technology and DOUBLE the “ Ave Yield ( Kg / Hactare ) “

Ø  In such a scheme, we want MORE INCENTIVE for marginal / small farm-holdings and LESS INCENTIVE for medium / large farm-holdings

Ø  For Rice , ( Paddy – A grade ) ( taken for demonstration purpose ) :

#    Current MSP is Rs 1888 / quintal ( Rs 18.88 / Kg )

       #    Average Output / Hactare is >  4679 Kg ( World Ave )  and  > 2638 Kg ( India Ave )

================================================================================

INCENTIVE MATRIX

=================================================================================

Incentive Amount in Rs / Kg ( for incremental output over India Ave of 2638 Kg / Hactare, is shown below (  There will be NIL incentive for a farm whose yield is below the India average )

Type of Farm	Farm Size in Hectare	No of Farm Holdings ( Mill. )	2700 kg	2900 kg	3300 kg	3700 kg	4100 kg	4500 kg	4900 kg
Marginal	Below 1	71.12	-	13	14	15	16	17	18
Small	1 to 2	21.64	-	8	9	10	11	12	13
Small - Medium	2 to 4	14.26	-	3	4	5	6	7	8
Medium	4 to 10	7.09	-	2	3	4	5	6	7
Large	Above 10	24.16	-	1	2	3	4	5	6
Total		138.27

 

( source : Agriculture Census )

Implication for a Marginal Farmer who manages to raise his yield from India Ave ( 2638 Kg / hectare ) , all the way upto ( say ) 4900 Kg / hectare [ see first row of this table ] :

( A ) for the BASE figure ( 2638 Kg )  >  NIL incentive

( B ) for next 200 Kg ( reaching 2900 Kg ) > Rs 13 x 200 = Rs 2600 / -

( C ) for next 400 Kg ( reaching 3300 Kg )  > Rs 14 x 400 = Rs 5600 / -

( D ) for next 400 Kg ( reaching 3700 Kg ) >  Rs 15 x 400 = Rs 6000 / -

( F ) for next 400 kg ( reaching 4100 Kg )  >  Rs 16 x 400 = Rs 6400 / -

( G ) for next 400 Kg ( reaching 4500 Kg ) >  Rs 17 x 400 = Rs 6800 / -

( H ) for next 400 Kg ( exceed World Ave ) > Rs 18 x 400 = Rs 7200 / -

Total …………………………………………………………… Rs 34,600 / -

In the topmost slab ( 4900 kg / hectare ), a farmer gets :

Ø  Rs 18.88 / kg by way of MSP,  and

Ø  Rs 18.00 / Kg by way of PLI

      Hence DOUBLING of income !

===================================================================

This is similar to our Personal Income Tax system, where the “ Tax Rate “ goes on increasing with each higher slab of income ( except , here it works in reverse considering that the farm income is TAX FREE  ! )

Of course, this is merely a CONCEPTUAL FRAME-WORK for getting the farmers to quickly adopt latest technologies in order to increase farm yield in line with the rest of the world

This incentive scheme will eliminate all resistance to introduction of technology . In fact, this will make the farmers to pro-actively engage with various government “ Agricultural Research “ Agencies for help / assistance

To sell this idea [ to farm experts and to general public ] , Government should carefully calculate and widely publish, how “ Per Kg “ Cost of Production would dramatically FALL , due to “ Economies of Scale ( factory-like mass-production ) “

And when there is huge decrease in per kg “ Cost of Production “ ,  that will make our agricultural produce “ price competitive “ with international prices and give a huge boost to Agri-Exports !

I assume PLI will not attract any sanctions from WTO as any kind of “Farm Subsidy “ – which USA – EU etc are giving to their farmers

This incentive scheme will spur “ Farm Mechanization “and boost use of Tractors – Harvesters – Combines etc ( a big boost to the Farm Machinery Industry, without having to subsidize its production )

Dear Shri Tomarji,

During your talks with the farmer leaders this afternoon , you may want to ask them what they think about such a scheme , which may be tried out with just ONE CROP and just ONE STATE , for knowing its results

If successful, it can be  extended all over India for that ONE CROP and subsequently to all 23 crops covered by MSP

As an alternative , it could be considered for NON-MSP crops to begin with before extending to MSP crops

If everyone is happy with the results of this scheme , then after 5 years of successful operations , it could take the form of a FARM INCENTIVES ACT , with in-built provisions for modifying the OUTPUT NORMS ( per hectare ) from time to time

 

Wishing you all luck  

With regards,

Hemen Parekh / hcp@RcruitGuru.com / 09 Dec 2020

============================================

Added  on  09  June  2023 :

In the context of the revised " higher " MSP for Paddy , announced by the Central Govt., 2 days ago, I got BARD to produce following TABULATION / Comments :

============================

Sure, here is the table with an additional row for "PLI Scheme for Paddy" and a comment in the last column on the relevance of your logic to raise India's "Output per Acre" of rice, to match the World Average and how it will benefit Paddy Farmers:

Scheme	Objective	Advantage of your proposal	Relevance to paddy farming	How it will benefit paddy farmers
PLI for Mobile Manufacturing and Specified Electronic Components	To boost domestic manufacturing of mobile phones and electronic components	Could also be used to boost productivity of input resources used in mobile phone manufacturing, such as labor and capital.	Not relevant to paddy farming	May not benefit paddy farmers directly.
PLI for White Goods (ACs and LED)	To boost domestic manufacturing of air conditioners and LED lights	Could also be used to boost productivity of input resources used in the production of air conditioners and LED lights, such as labor and capital.	Not relevant to paddy farming	May not benefit paddy farmers directly.
PLI for Telecom and Networking Products	To boost domestic manufacturing of telecom and networking products	Could also be used to boost productivity of input resources used in the production of telecom and networking products, such as labor and capital.	Not relevant to paddy farming	May not benefit paddy farmers directly.
PLI Scheme for Paddy	To boost domestic production of paddy	Could be used to provide incentives to farmers to adopt more productive farming practices, such as improved irrigation, better crop varieties, and modern farming techniques. =========================================== Your logic is relevant to paddy farming because it could be used to raise India's output per acre of rice, to match the World Average. This could be done by providing incentives to farmers to adopt more productive farming practices, such as improved irrigation, better crop varieties, and modern farming techniques. This would lead to increased yields and incomes for paddy farmers. Here are some specific ways in which your logic could be used to benefit paddy farmers: Improved irrigation: Providing farmers with access to improved irrigation systems would allow them to grow rice in areas where it is currently not possible. This would expand the area under cultivation and increase yields. Better crop varieties: Developing and distributing better crop varieties that are resistant to pests and diseases would improve yields and reduce the cost of production. Modern farming techniques: Training farmers in modern farming techniques, such as precision agriculture and integrated pest management, would help them to improve their yields and reduce their costs. By providing incentives for farmers to adopt these practices, the PLI Scheme for Paddy could help to raise India's output per acre of rice and improve the incomes of paddy farmers.	Relevant to paddy farming	Could benefit paddy farmers by increasing their yields and incomes.

How about introducing a PLI for agricultural produce ?

 

 

Dear Shri Tomarji,

Government has committed to double the farm income by 2022

The 3 Farm Laws are one of the instruments for achieving this objective. Unfortunately , these have lead to the current agitation ( - for which , I am sure you will find a WIN WIN solution )

Irrespective of whatever compromise that Govt manages to reach with the farmers, I suggest introduction of a Production Linked Incentive ( PLI ) for farm produce , by treating agriculture as an INDUSTRY ( as recently announced for automobiles / auto components / pharmaceuticals / speciality steel / telecom and networking / electronics and technology products / white goods ( ACs & LEDs ) /   textiles / solar PV modules / food products / ACC Battery )

Logic :

As compared with rest of the world ( other countries ), productivity of major crops in India , is very low , as can be seen in following table ( source : TOI / 8 Dec 2020 )

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Productivity Comparison for Major Crops ( 2018 figures , in Kg / Hectare )

Crop	World’s Highest	World Average	India ave	India’s Highest
Rice	7027	4679	2638	4132 ( Punjab )
Maize	11864	5924	3070	7258 ( TN )
Total Pulses	1950	964	757	916 ( MP )
Tur	1743	852	729	1209 ( Guj )
Soybean	3468	2791	1192	1254 ( Raj )
Groundnut	4473	1611	1422	2718 ( TN )

  

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Can we come up with a FORMULA ( obviously, to be devised by Farm Experts ) whereby , a farmer gets a certain ( graded ) INCENTIVE for each SLAB of “ Increased output “ , over the BASE OUTPUT for the BASE YEAR ?

We already know :

Ø  Each farmer ( by Aadhar / Jan Dhan a/c / Mobile etc )

Ø  Farm holding ( hectares ) of each farm

Ø  Each farmer’s output ( ave of past 3 years )

We can take help of NaVIC satellite based technology to automatically compute the yield of each  and every farm , compute the INCENTIVE AMOUNT and automatically transfer ( DBT ) into each farmer’s bank account . Absolutely NO human intervention / no middlemen ( adatiyas ) !

By no means, I am suggesting that this mechanism ( to incentivize the farmers to raise the productivity and catch-up with the World ), is meant to replace MSP , which should continue as before

Nor would this PLI scheme bind the farmers to sell their produce within and outside of APMC mandis or prevent the Govt to buy it at MSP

 

With regards,

Hemen Parekh / hcp@RecruitGuru.com / 08 Dec 2020

 

Related Readings :

Influence farmers and win Votes ? 

Selling Farm Laws before selling Farm Crops