Karthikeya Hariyani, founder and CEO of electric vehicle (EV) charging network Charge Zone, speaking at the NDTV World Summit 2024, explained why it makes sense to switch to EVs.
“In India, the purpose of an EV or a car is personal mobility. 80 per cent of the mobility requirement of the Indian consumer is less than 51 days. So, with this figure, EV becomes a natural choice for adoption, but also (the question arises) Whether the cost makes sense. Then as an individual consumer, you would say I don’t need an EV or the payment is not really attractive,” he said.
However, Mr Hariyani insisted there was “good news around”.
“There have been two developments in the industry so far. In the last two quarters, battery costs have halved. The other good news is that some OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) have started battery as a service which means The battery and charging will effectively become your fuel system, so, what you are going to buy will be a car without the cost of the battery, meaning (it) will be equivalent to the cost of a petrol car,” he said.
Mr Hariyani stressed that careful thinking needs to be done about how the recharging network will be planned.
“For each EV segment, industry players have started investing in it. Six years ago, standards were created in it. Later, the local ecosystem played a bigger role. In terms of semiconductors as well as power electronics Localization also happened in India. Today we are ready with localized chargers for both three-wheelers and four-wheelers.”
He also said that even though fast-charging is the key to EV adoption it is not just about cars but also buses and trucks.
“For a charging company like us, when we started in 2019, there were possibilities of electric cars coming into the market, then electric buses started coming. And today we are seeing the launch of electric trucks as a priority, I will enable inter-city mobility. In other words, charging infra on highways is our priority. We have electrified 33,000 kilometers of highways in India, but if I invest only in fast-charging for my entire lifetime. I won’t be able to make money either. Inter-city buses and inter-city trucks are going to be the biggest enablers.”
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed the importance of clean energy for a better future, saying “clean energy is the need of the hour”.
At COP26, India committed to reduce projected carbon emissions by 1 billion tonnes by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2070. These commitments require a rapid transition to renewable energy.
