Building The EV Ecosystem, What Is The Future?

Electric Vehicle (EV) Industry has seen a much greater push in the year 2022. Recently, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari also mentioned that there were 18 lakh electric vehicle registration in the nation, amongst which Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Maharashtra tops the list. However, in 2022 we also witnessed many unfortunate EV explosion cases, so, what the future of the EVs? 

Major industry leaders shared their point of views at BW Auto World EV Summit on what lies ahead of the EV industry.

“EV Infrastructure has increased five folds and we have seen rolling out of 5000 to 10000 electric vehicles every month by different manufacturers. So far, the electric infrastructure in all sectors from passenger vehicles to electric buses, three wheelers, two wheelers growth is fantastic” said Nilesh Kane, Chief of Distribution (Mumbai Operations) at Tata Power

“EV infrastructure is being developed in terms of manufacturing, increasing vehicle adoption, government policies and building EV ecosystem. Since these things are happening the outcome will be there and the growth is huge because base is small,” said Sanjay Varkey, Director, Shell Mobility India

Challenges of Charging Infrastructure 

There is a lot of apprehension regarding the charging infrastructure which is not up to the mark in India. 

“Tata is actively developing the charging infrastructure from past two years. We already have network of around 4,000 chargers and by the end of the next year we will have 10,000 chargers. We are also doing a detailed analysis, earlier usage of charger was less than 1 per cent, now it is 3 to 4 per cent in some place,” said Nilesh Kane, Chief - Distribution (Mumbai Operations), Tata Power.

The fast charging also has long-term negative effects on the battery and slow charging is not appreciated by many as compared to ICE vehicles.

The government of India is doing enough to promote EV adoption through various schemes & policies like FAME, PLI scheme, battery swapping policy, special electric mobility zone, etc. However, the journey is still far ahead.

"The government's intention is clear on transforming from energy dependent country to an energy independent country. In my opinion, the government is doing its part. However, there is a scope of improvement in terms of adoption- policy front, infrastructure, technology support and creating awareness,” Sameer Deshmukh, VP - Automotive OE and Vehicle Aftermarket, SKF India.