Electric Vehicle Costs Will Normalise In 3-4 Years, Says Amitabh Kant

SUMMARY

The Niti Aayog chief said that electric vehicles will cost as much as normal engined cars soon

Currently electric vehicles cost three to four times more than petrol/diesel cars

Lithium-ion batteries are one of the prime factors for the increased cost of EVs

NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant on Wednesday said the cost of electric vehicles will become almost equal to internal combustion engine cars in the next 3-4 years, as India will work on reducing the cost of lithium-ion batteries one of the main expenses of electric cars.

Kant reportedly said that India has 28 cars for every 1,000 people, much lower as compared to the US or Europe which have 980 and 850 cars for 1,000 people respectively, this means as India transits towards urbanisation the future will all be electric, shared and connected, Kant said.

“We will transit towards there as the cost of the battery falls from 276 dollars per kilowatt-hour (kWh) to 76 dollars per kilowatt/hour. The cost of electric vehicles will almost become at par with combustion (engine) cars in the next 3-4 years,” the NITI Aayog CEO said while addressing a CII event.

As the automobile industry looks at the worst sales figures of the past 19 years, the Indian government has reportedly decided to slow down its push for electric vehicles adoption. According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, the auto industry has recorded a 31% drop in sales in 2019 as compared to last year.

The government has changed its perception that electric vehicle adoption can be brought in through a gradual push rather than a major disruption, as proposed by the NITI Aayog.

Earlier this month, NITI Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar responded to the auto industry concerns regarding the government’s proposed a complete shift to electric vehicles by 2030. Rajiv reportedly said that the fears of auto manufacturers over electric vehicles are misplaced.

He urged to the auto sector that instead of seeing EVs as a threat, the auto sector should grab the opportunity offered by this sunrise sector and emerge a global leader.

Rajiv also clarified that NITI Aayog’s complete switch proposal is majorly concerned with petrol-run two-wheelers. “switching a petrol engine from BS IV to BS VI is actually not very expensive,” he added.