Abstract:

E-Vehicles are poised to cause a major disruption in the automobile as well as the energy industry across the globe. This disruption is propelled by powerful purpose of creating a greener, safer and sustainable planet. The USA, China and India combined together account for a staggering 50% of the world’s Green House Gases (GHGs) emissions. The USA and China have already promoted the replacement of fossil fuel powered vehicles by e-vehicles. India has pledged to cut down its share of GHGs emissions significantly in order limit the average increase in global temperature. As a result of this, the Indian government has set a target of 100% e-mobility by 2030. India embarked upon its e-vehicle journey in November 2017 by the deployment of 100 e-vehicle units and installation of four charging stations in a city.  This paper is aimed to examine the commercial viability of the pilot project and identify the initial roadblocks and its rectifications in order to scale up on pan-India basis. In order to achieve this, the pilot project was studied in detail and interviews and surveys were conducted among all the stakeholders in April-May 2018. The paper also uniquely identifies the charging pattern of the commercial electric vehicles at a particular charging station. There is a need for the government to incentivise and subsidise the manufacturing cost of both the e-vehicles and the fast charging equipment. Indian government has to play a critical part here to attract the investors for production of e-vehicles and setting up of charging stations.