Electric Vehicles This Week: Audi To Enter Indian EV Market, Andhra Pradesh Passes Electric Mobility Policy, And More

We, at Inc42, are constantly tracking developments related to electric vehicles (EVs) from both India and the international markets. In our recent report, we presented an in-depth look at the initiatives focussed on EVs and discussed schemes launched by the Indian government to turn India into an EV nation.

Even as India draws inspiration from other ‘developed countries’ in its mission to become a fully EV nation by 2030, it is also becoming an inspiration for other ‘developing countries’ because of the aggressiveness with which it is working on its EV mission.

This week, India made headlines mostly for the steps it has taken in the space of  EV charging infrastructure that needs to be developed for the ecosystem. Starting from the top, the Indian government has proposed to rapidly increase the installation of EV charging stations across cities that have big populations.

Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh state cabinet passed its Electric Mobility Policy, which offers fiscal incentives to electric carmakers, battery manufacturers, etc — a major step that other states should look at following.

Interestingly, according to a study conducted by researchers, Nordic car dealerships and agents were found to be discouraging going electric. We bring all these developments to you in the 25th edition of the Electric Vehicles this week.

Important Developments In The Indian Electric Vehicle Ecosystem

Indian Govt Plans Rapid Installation Of EV Charging Stations

The Indian government has proposed to set up EV charging stations every 3km in cities with over a million population, and every 50 km on busy national highways.

To achieve the target, 30,000 slow-charging and 15,000 fast-charging stations will be required, with at least two high-charge points and one fast-charging point at every 3km in cities.

The government may provide subsidies to PSUs such as the NTPC, Power Grid Corp, and Indian Oil Corp to set up charging stations. The NTPC is already setting up such facilities in Maharashtra.

Andhra Pradesh Passes Electric Mobility Policy

The Andhra Pradesh cabinet has cleared the electric mobility policy to attract $4.4 Bn (INR 30,000 Cr) investments to promote EVs in the state. The policy is expected to boost the state’s plan to roll out 10 Lakh EVs by 2022. It provides complete reimbursement of road tax and registration fees on EV sale until 2024.

It also offers fiscal incentives to carmakers, battery manufacturers, charging infrastructure companies, and consumers, among others. The state aims to convert city buses to electric buses by 2024 in four cities and in the state by 2030.

Tech Startup Ather Energy Installs EV Charging Stations In Bengaluru

Homegrown startup Ather Energy has started installing EV charging stations across Bengaluru. It has set up a deadline to complete the configuration of 30 such charging stations by May-end. It further plans to set up 60 such charging stations within every 4km driving distance the city.

The startup, which is focussed on designing and selling premium electric two-wheelers, has partnered with host locations that have installed points pro-bono on their premises to offer the charging facilities. It plans to launch its e-scooter, the S340, in the market soon.

Taiwanese Delta Electronics To Setup Electric Vehicles R&D Centre In India

Taiwan-headquartered Delta Electronics aims to become a flag-bearer in setting up EV charging infrastructure in India. The company’s managing director for India, Dalip Sharma, told Financial Express that an R&D centre would be set up in Bengaluru by 2020, apart from a factory in Tamil Nadu’s Hosur.

Further, Delta aims to supply Bharat Charger to PSUs and others benefiting from the EESL tender. It also plans to launch at least six EVs in India by 2020. The company has committed $500 Mn to building infrastructure over the next 10 years.

Audi To Launch EVs In Indian Cities Where Charging Facilities Are Available

German carmaker Audi plans to launch four electric vehicles in India in 2020 — having the capacity to run up to 400 km on a single charge. The company says these EVs will be supplied to select dealers in a few Indian cities where charging infrastructure is fully available.

The carmaker maintains to have already formed a task force, Electrified India, within the company, to work on the launch. By 2025, it aims to sell 800K EVs globally.

Two Metro Stations In Hyderabad To Get EV Charging Stations

Two metro stations in Hyderabad — Miyapur and Dr B R Ambedkar — are getting EV charging stations being set up by a navratna PSU Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd and L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Ltd.

They are said to be developed on a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology; the charging ports will be of the Bharat Charger DC-001 standard.

An app will also be developed to know the availability of these charging stations, with an online payment facility. Plans are afoot to set up more EV charging stations across the state to achieve the “pollution free” tag.

Developments Around The World

Mercedes-Benz Invests $600 Mn To Build ‘Compact Electric Car’

German carmaker Mercedes-Benz has announced an investment of $589 Mn into its Hambach plant in France to manufacture a ‘compact electric car’. Come next year, the company plans to launch its first electric vehicle, the EQC SUV.

The carmaker said that the preparations for the new model of Hambach will begin soon. Part of the investment will be spent for the construction of new facilities and also to increase the flow in the production.

Plans are also afoot to expand its assembly facilities and reshape the site’s infrastructure. Mercedes-Benz aims to bring several EVs to market by 2022.

NREL Develops EVI-PRO To Locate EV Charging Stations

The US-based National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has developed a new tool, EVI-Pro Lite, that locates EV charging stations state or city-wise and also projects future consumer demand for charging infrastructure. Its demonstration has been scheduled on May 21.

A NREL official said that the tool uses detailed data from personal vehicle travel patterns, electric vehicle attributes, and charging station characteristics. This data feeds the tool’s extensive simulations approach to estimate the quantity and type of charging infrastructure necessary to support regional adoption of electric vehicles.

Renault CEO: People No Longer Care About Range Anxiety With Electric Cars

The chairman and CEO of France-based Renault Carlos Ghosn recently said that people no longer care about range anxiety with electric cars — they just need to be less expensive. He was speaking at a news conference in Hong Kong this week.

“We have seen that consumers do not talk any more about range or autonomy as long as you guarantee more than 300km,” Ghosn told reporters.

Ghosn also took a moment to explain how he came to learn what he knows about selling electric cars. “You could not have guessed this through studies,” Ghosn said, “You had to have 500K [electric] cars on the ground to understand,” he said.

Car Dealerships And Agents Discouraging Going Electric: Study

An investigative study conducted by researchers in Nordic countries has found that car dealerships in Scandinavia found agents actively discouraging going electric. Digital Trends cited one of the study’s researchers, Benjamin Sovacool, as saying, “We essentially found that most car dealerships do not want to sell electric vehicles, even though they cost more”.

The researchers visited 82 car dealerships in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, and Finland, guised as everyday customers. The researchers observed agents steering the researchers towards gas-powered cars, sometimes dismissing electric vehicles outright. Some didn’t even inform the researchers that they sold EVs.

Stay tuned for next week’s edition of Electric Vehicles This Week.

Note: We at Inc42 take our ethics very seriously. More information about it can be found here.