Latest News
The shift to electric vehicles - What is in store?.
Recently, it was reported that 650 of the 8,033 Nexons sold in June 2021 were Electric Vehicles (EVs), that is, had electricity-driven engines.
- It has been ascribed to the fact that thanks to a spate of central and state government subsidies, the e-variant now costs only Rs 2 lakh more than the diesel and Rs 3 lakh more than the petrol variant.
- Electric vehicles are saving the climate: Air pollutants from gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles cause asthma, bronchitis, cancer, and premature death.
- The long-term health impacts of localized air pollution last a lifetime, with the effects borne out in asthma attacks, lung damage, and heart conditions.
- EVs are covering entire gamut of vehicles: The Electric vehicles fall into three main categories:
- Battery electric vehicles are powered by electricity stored in a battery pack.
- Plug-in hybrids combine a gasoline or diesel engine with an electric motor and large rechargeable battery.
- Fuel cell vehicles split electrons from hydrogen molecules to produce electricity to run the motor.
- EVs have a smaller carbon footprint than gasoline-powered cars: The electricity that charges and fuels battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles comes from power grids, which rely on a range of sources — from fossil fuels to clean renewable energy.
- The electricity across is cleaner and cheaper as a fuel for vehicles because electric vehicles are more efficient in converting energy to power cars and trucks.
- Cheaper to maintain: A Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) has fewer moving parts than a conventional petrol/diesel car and servicing is relatively easy, less frequent and overall cheaper than a petrol/diesel vehicle.
- The Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) also have a petrol or diesel engine that needs servicing, so a PHEV will cost more to maintain than a BEV.
- Better for our energy security: The EVs are easy to power from local and renewable energy sources, reducing our dependence on foreign oil.
- Better for the network: If EV charging is managed effectively, mainly outside peak electricity demand periods, it will help us to create a flatter electricity network demand profile over a typical 24-hour period.
- It will help us to:
- better utilize the electricity network
- help EV owners avoid higher-cost charging periods
- help the entire electricity system work more efficiently
- help support the integration of more small and large-scale renewable energy systems into the electricity grid.
- It will help us to:
- Lack of charging infrastructure: India requires a widespread charging infrastructure to meet the growing adoption of EVs.
- In addition to more charging stations, the lack of space is also a challenge since people need a place to charge their EVs.
- Range anxiety: Potential EV customers are apprehensive when it comes to the range that an EV offers.
- They want to ensure that the vehicle would get them to their destination before the battery runs out.
- Financing challenges: EV customers currently face various financing challenges such as limited financing options, high interest, high insurance cost, and limited loan opportunities.
- Vehicle costs: Electric cars generally have higher sticker prices than their gasoline-fueled counterparts, mostly because of expensive materials and processes used in battery production.
- Zero-carbon fantasy: Sourcing the minerals used for batteries, dismantling batteries which have deteriorated, and building and delivering vehicles to customers worldwide all involve substantial CO2 emissions.
- Hefty subsidies being offered by the government: The government is subsidizing a small affluent section of the car-owning population.
- A complete shift to EVs will therefore transfer Rs 2,770 crore from taxpayers to this fraction every year till the government terminates these incentives.
- Number of security issues: The electric and hybrid vehicles have a number of security issues that are not related to conventional vehicles, and include electric shock, explosion, flood of the electrolyte and fire.
- Uncertainty associated with the state of the battery after mechanical damage: The connectors may be defective and to lose communication with one or all parts of the battery with unknown amount of energy remaining in the system.
- The issues related to the malfunction of the battery after damage will be evidence of leakage, leaking electrolyte (carbon solvents are flammable), thermal hazards (observed battery temperatures exceeding 1200˚C after malfunction) and hazard particles.
- High global warming emission during manufacturing: The electric vehicles will produce more global warming emissions than the average gasoline vehicle, because electric cars’ large lithium-ion batteries require a lot of materials and energy to build.
- Insurance implications and claims complexity: Fire and explosion risks associated with high voltage batteries could give rise to claims for commercial property insurers, in particular if multiple cars are charged in underground car parks.
- Ethanol and methanol as transport fuel: Their superior quality and greater safety has made them the preferred fuels in major motor races since the 1960s.
- They can be produced from any biomass waste from crop residues to municipal solid waste, both of which are available in abundance.
- Production of refuse-derived fuel: The first commercial plant to convert 175,000 tons of refuse-derived fuel into 45 million litres of aviation turbine fuel is being commissioned outside Reno, Nevada.
- Gasification: It holds even greater promise because simple, air-blown gasifiers are already in use in food processing that can convert rice and wheat straw into a lean fuel gas that can generate electricity and provide guaranteed 24-hour power to cold storage in every village.
- A by-product, biochar, is no less valuable because it can replace imported coking coal in blast furnaces or be used as a feedstock for producing transport fuels even more easily than municipal solid waste.
- Standardized location of switches: The manufacturers of electrical vehicles install switches that will stop the energy from the battery case in accident.
- The location of these switches must be standardized for security.
- It is expected in the next 20 years the number of small light electric vehicles (SEVs) to significantly increase and become future solution for urban mobility because of their dimensions.
- The protection of vulnerable road users, compatibility with heavier vehicles and new active safety systems must be taken into account to ensure adequate security of EVs in the future regulations.
- The Government’s vision to touch a 25% registration mark by 2024 is a quite practical approach and will help the city in curbing other concerning factors including generating employment opportunities, pollution levels, etc.
- The states need to start planning for the proliferation of electric vehicle chargers in both public spaces as well as privately owned overnight chargers.
POSTED ON 12-08-2021 BY ADMIN
Next previous 
General Studies
Political Science and International Relations
Some Reference Essays
List of previous year essay topics (1997-2019)
IAS GOOGLE is googled by the team of Raja Sir’s Cracking IAS Academy. Sources include The Hindu, Indian Express, pib.nic.in, Down To Earth, Economic Times, Vigyan Prasar, AIR and the like. IAS GOOGLE has been prepared in pace with emerging UPSC Trends.