Boom of E – Vehicles in India

Electric vehicles or e – vehicles (EV) are not new to India. It all started in early 2000 with the release of Mahindra Electric Mobility Limited company’s REVA which was a 2 seater EV car with lead acid battery of 40V, 80 km mileage/charge and automatic transmission with 17.4 BHP. It was priced between Rs. 2.89 lakhs and Rs. 3.76 Lakhs. Later, Mahindra introduced a 4-seater variant with the same range and power.

This model was further upgraded with modern features and comforts in the year 2013 and named e2o. e2o had lithium ion battery, 120 km mileage/ charge, automatic transmission and many other features like connecting the car from anywhere using mobile internet. This model became quite popular in urban metropolitan areas. In cities like Bangalore and Delhi, due to its demand, the government started setting up electric charging stations at various locations. But by 2017, the company saw a drop in sales and eventually closed its production.

In 2013, Hero Electric Pvt. Ltd. was established by the famous bicycle brand, Hero Cycles. Over time, they introduced many models including e – bicycle and e – bike. The e – bicycle has a fixed battery for support and people who are fond of trekking usually prefer this bike to avoid stress during climbing hills and mountain terrains. Today, the cost of a Hero e – bicycle goes from Rs. 22000 to 25000 based on the specific city and state. The e – bike has two different variants, one which has a fixed battery and the other with removable variants. E-bikes with fixed lead acid batteries cost from Rs. 55,000 to Rs. 70,000 depending upon mileage. E-bikes with removable lithium ion battery costs between Rs. 75,000 to Rs. 1,50,000.

There are various companies who have started manufacturing great e – vehicles after 2017 with lithium ion battery. The list of companies who are producing various types of e – bikes includes Pure EV, Ampere, Ather, TVS, Bajaj, Revolt, Okinawa, Franklin, BGauss, Benling, Ola, Bounce, Oben, Tork, Komaki, Odysse, Kinetic Green, Atumobile, Kabira, Gravton, One Electric, Avon, AMO, Avera, Prana and many more. Similarly, in the car segment you find e – car vehicles which are now becoming popular among public due to the rise in the petrol and diesel prices. The list of companies who are producing these e – vehicles are TATA motors (Nexon EV), Mahindra (E Verito), MG Motors (MG ZS EV), Mini Cooper SE, Jaguar I Pace, BMW, Porche, Hyundai, Audi, Strom Motors, Mercedes Benz EQC and Green Master.

The main advantage of buying e-vehicles is that they reduce costs, both that of the fuel and of maintenance. The Central Motor Vehicle Rules (CMVR) defines an electric two-wheeler with power output less than 250 watts and a top speed no greater than 25kmph as an electric bicycle or E-bike. Since these fall under bicycle category, they do not have to be registered and can be ridden on the road without a valid driver’s license. Also subsidy is being provided by the government on purchase of some of these vehicles. A major disadvantage though is that if the battery is not charged properly, there is a chance of complete discharge and this reduces the battery life. Also, in some cases, batteries can catch fire especially due to inappropriate usage.

There are many start-up companies now offering to convert old petrol or diesel vehicles into e – vehicles, such as e – Trio from Hyderabad, Telangana. e-Trio converts Maruti Suzuki WagonR and Alto 800 into e – vehicle with ARAI certification for Rs. 3.5 to 4.8 Lakhs depending upon the motor and battery capacity.

The key points to be considered before purchasing e – vehicles are:

1. Check your commuting distance and purpose
   Based on the commuting distance, if it ranges from 40 to 80 km, then you can plan for vehicles without registration or licensed models with 40 to 50 km/h range (like the e-bike which I am driving, Pure EV’s etrance+) and in e – car segment, you can plan for Green Masters 2 seater or 4 seater with 50 km/h range. If your commuting distance is more (in the range of 120 to 200 km) and you are fond of fancy models, then go for Pure EV’s ePluto variant which can go up to 120 km/h per charge for 140 km and Revolt EV 400 which can go till 180 km to 200 km. In e-car segment, you can plan for TATA Motors’ Nexon EV, which can go up to 400 km per charge.
2. Charging station
   1. For city travelling, you might not need any charging station if your commuting distance is 100 to 200 km per day.
   2. While traveling on highways, usually people have this concern about what would happen if the battery drains out. Now Governments are setting up many fast charging stations in highway for two wheelers and four wheelers.
   3. In the next couple of years, you could access many charging stations (like petrol pumps), which would give a great increase in mobility. It is expected to raise the share of electric vehicles to almost 30% as the Ministry of Road and Transport is predicting
   4. Many apps are available on Google Play store which help in locating the charging stations in the city
3. Battery Type
   1. Don’t go for Lead acid battery. Lead battery increases the maintenance cost. Every time during the maintenance one has to add distilled water and also check the complete wiring and panel setup because there are chances that acids can spill due to heat and spoil your bike.
   2. Lithium ion battery is preferable. Similar to the mobile/ smartphone battery, they are also coming as fixed type and removable type.
   3. Many live in apartments these days and apartment communities may not allow you to keep a separate meter or junction box for connecting e – bikes. So in such cases, the removable batteries are very useful for charging at home using a  setup with 5 Amps to 15 Amps depending upon the battery capacity.
   4. For e – cars, you can get a separate EV meter with 15 Amps connection which you could get easily by applying to the power suppliers, either in the government or private sector.
4. Electric Motor
   1. In e – bikes, usually companies are using hub motor which is a fixed type and maintenance of this is very low.
   2. When compare to this, the belt type motor is very good for regeneration of electric current as well as for long travel of more than 140 km.
5. Looks and Front Display
   1. Most EVs are aesthetically appealing and come with great looks and modern designs.
   2. The front display is usually of LED panel, which provides details about the battery in percentage level, head lamp indicators, signal indicators, parking sensors, lock sensors, etc.
   3. In some of the higher-end models of e – bikes, you could also find GPS tracking and navigation set up, which is connected to the internet by sim card support.
   4. A few e-bikes like Revolt RV 400 have some unique features such as anti-theft locking system with geo-fencing, wherein you could lock the vehicle at 500 to 1000 meter distance, a battery indication tracking system which allows the Revolt company to immediately provide service if you are in the middle of the road with very low battery. In such an emergency, they would replace the battery with 100% charging without any extra charges.
   5. Also in e – cars, you would not be disappointed as the looks and display are great. In TATA Motors’ Nexon EV, the interiors are very well designed with all modern features like music system, LED display, auto – transmission, alloy wheels, sunroof opening, auto – wiper senor technology, etc.
6. Warranty
   1. In most of the e – bikes, the warranty is mainly for 3 years for battery with extra 2 years which comes with Annual maintenance charge or it could be absolutely with no extra charges. Also, they give 2 years warranty on motor. Depending upon your maintenance as well as usage, this could be extended to more than 5 to 10 years.
   2. In e – cars, the warranty comes for both motor as well as battery for 8 years as offered by TATA motors.
7. Certification
   1. There are two certification processes available in India. Firstly by ARAI (Automotive Research Association of India) certification which is an authorized agency where they do all the testing regarding the vehicle quality, motor efficiency, battery quality and efficiency of fuel, crash test, etc.
   2. Another certification is by ICAT (The International Centre for Automotive Technology) which was established in 2006 at Manesar, Haryana, India.
   3. Both these certificates are valid in India for any e – vehicle for the registration purpose (above 60 km/ h speed limit vehicles) as well as for those below 40km/h speed ranges vehicle to exclude from registration.
8. Maintenance Cost
   1. When compared to the petrol or diesel vehicles, the maintenance cost of e – bikes comes around Rs. 500 to Rs. 700 per 3 months or 1000 Km ride.
   2. In e – cars, the maintenance cost would be around Rs. 1500 to Rs. 2500 for every 6 months or 7000 km drive.
9. Charging Cost vs Fuel Cost (Illustration)

*Price may vary according to the time frame and model

10. Maintenance Tips and Advise

1. An MCB switch has been provided in all e – vehicles. Kindly switch off once you have finished the travelling distance before parking to avoid over-heating of the battery in e – bikes.
2. Never overload the vehicles beyond the advisable limit.
3. Never charge the battery immediately after finishing your travel to avoid sudden flow of electric charges which could result in exploding and catching fire in the electric vehicles
4. Keep the vehicle in open space for 10 mins before placing the cover in the night
5. Try to complete the battery charging in 3 hours as recommended by the company. If the charging time is extended, there could be the possibility of reverse flow and could damage the battery life.
6. Never drain the battery completely. Keep 20 to 30% balance so as to increase the battery life up to 5 years in e-bikes and 8 years in e–cars.
7. Go for the maintenance at the recommended time period or kilometrage to avoid major damages in the battery, motor, panel and wiring.

Note: Image credit under CCL:  Electric car recharging in Berlin, Germany – dummy/fake registration plate and charging station logo. Attribution: Michael Movchin / Felix Müller