Need for technological improvisation, incentives to promote electric two-wheelers: Niti report

These suggestions were part of the Niti Aayog’s report ‘Forecasting Penetration of Electric Two-Wheelers in India; a bottom-up analysis’ released on Tuesday.

According to the report, at a certain point of time in future, there may be an appropriate ecosystem for enforcement of regulation toward electric mobility or other clean transport options.

But, it stated that as the present analysis shows, there are plenty of opportunities for accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles through technological improvements and other interventions.

Observing that there is a positive mindset about electric mobility among the consumers, it stated that the recent rise in the price of petroleum fuels has played a major role towards this shift.

It noted that public awareness about electric mobility has increased.

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As per the report, the demand incentives increase the penetration level of electric two-wheelers.

But more important issues appear to be the manufacturing cost of the vehicle, which is mainly influenced by the cost of the battery, it opined.

Reduced dependence on the import of electric vehicle components and sub-systems may be one of the crucial factors in enhancing domestic manufacturing capacity along with other policy-related measures, it added.

During the initial stage, due to the low level of electric vehicle penetration, a higher ratio of charging points to electric vehicles will be required to instil confidence in the minds of the customers.

While at a later stage the absolute number of charging points should increase, this ratio may even come down. Such a scenario, in any case, is expected to happen, it suggested.

Apart from the policy and infrastructure-related issues, technology plays an important role in the market penetration of electric vehicles, it noted.

The results clearly demonstrate how improvement in the performance of the vehicle over a period of three years, along with an improved battery can drastically increase penetration, overcoming the impacts of withdrawal of incentives, it stated.

Battery cost is another important parameter and technology can play an important role in reducing the cost of the battery and other components, many of which are presently imported, it suggested.