Charging Infrastructure In India

The Electric Vehicle market has been making the right noise for the last few years. With the ‘Scrappage Policy’ announced in the Union Budget 2021, it is pretty clear that the Government is serious about making some dire environmental changes to improve the health of our planet. The market for Electric Vehicles is now expected to grow even further. However, the industry is still suffering from the trepidation of consumer response owing to range anxiety which, if not addressed efficiently, is quickly turning into charge anxiety. The accessibility of charging stations is directly proportional to the adoption of Electric Vehicles which is why robust development of charging infrastructure is crucial to the sustainable growth of Electric Vehicle market.

Why charging infrastructure?

The day is not far when commute in India will be exclusively dominated by electric vehicles. On average, it takes an hour to charge an electric vehicle which also automatically results into longer waiting hours. People used to charging their internal combustion engine with fuel in minutes will have a harder time investing time in one, looking for a charging station nearby, and two, waiting to charge the vehicles.

For inter-city or longer commute, the need for more densification of public charging situations will be more crucial as the demand for Electric Vehicles soars higher. Also, one should keep in mind that fast charging also consumes more electricity as it demands high voltage and current. This shall have a direct impact on the cost of EV and subsequently on the life of the battery.

What’s in store?

India is envisioned to be the primary hub of the electric sector as it is positioned to have 30% Electric Vehicles on road by 2030. In the same endeavor, the government is encouraging local production of raw materials and batteries to promote the development of the battery industry, charging infrastructure, along with the deployment of local supply chains. Under the second phase of the ‘Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles (FAME)’ program, the government is planning to install charging stations every 25 km across the country. While this may seem too ambitious at this point, the wheels are turning fast. To support the vision, the government has been government has inviting private companies to set up large-scale EV charging network. As per a report published in the Economic Times, Under the second phase of the FAME India (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India) scheme, 317 EV charging stations have been sanctioned in Maharashtra, 266 in Andhra Pradesh, 256 in Tamil Nadu, 228 in Gujarat, 205 in Rajasthan, 207 in Uttar Pradesh, 172 in Karnataka, 159 in Madhya Pradesh, 141 in West Bengal, 138 in Telangana, 131 in Kerala, 72 in Delhi, 70 in Chandigarh, 50 in Haryana, 40 in Meghalaya, 37 in Bihar, 29 in Sikkim, 25 each in Jammu, Srinagar, and Chhattisgarh, 20 in Assam, 18 in Odisha and 10 each in Uttarakhand, Puducherry and Himachal Pradesh.

A five-year phased program has also been defined to support large scale, integrated batteries and cell-manufacturing giga-plants in India by the government in National Mission on transformative mobility and battery storage. This program is set to run its tenure till 2024. This will help us become more self-reliant as we reduce our dependency on foreign countries to import raw materials and batteries required to make a solid charging infrastructure. India's EV ambition requires an estimated annual battery capacity of 158 GWh by FY30, which presents a potent market opportunity for battery manufacturing in India. Having a Lithium Manufacturing unit in Gujarat will speed up India’s journey to becoming one of the largest EV markets in the world. It will reduce our dependence on the import market which will further positively impact the cost of EVs in India. Currently, Lithium-Ion Battery Cell Production hubs are primarily located in China, US (North America), Western Europe, Japan, and South Korea.

With major global and Indian players vying to establish a battery manufacturing facility in India, the day is not too far when India shall have its own indigenous capacity to operate the charging infrastructure across the country quite independently.

Apart from batteries, Electric Vehicle charging infrastructure requires other utilities like wire harnesses, permanent magnets, BLDC motors, AC induction motors, Thermal & Cooling Management Systems, Electronics, Plastics, etc. These requisites need to be fulfilled to the optimum for making the EV revolution a successful one.

Challenges

a. Power Supply:

While it's likely that most of the charging shall happen at home or offices, India is in need of more grid electricity supply to accommodate the rising demand. A report published in FirstPost states that “Although Central Electricity Authority data from 2016 showed India to have a power surplus for the first time, load shedding and power outages remain common, with some parts of India having access to power for less than eight hours a day. As a result, it is anticipated that much EV charging infrastructure, especially that not operated by discoms, will require supplementary or alternative energy sources.” Having said that, the fact that India leads in terms of producing renewable sources of power, the supply is expected to meet the demands in future.

b. Raw materials:

Most raw materials required to manufacture EV batteries are primarily available in China, Europe and other foreign markets. India is having to buy them from these countries which dents the EV market to some extend as cost of batteries increases. For raw materials such as Lithium and Cobalt, India remains significantly dependent on other countries for supply.

c. Time consuming:

Charging an electric vehicle is much time consuming than a traditional Internal Combustion Engines. As mentioned earlier, the success of electric vehicles requires the development of a charging infrastructure that is accessible, easy to use, and relatively inexpensive. Owners of a conventional vehicle are unlikely to switch to an electric car, if the fueling process is more difficult, time-consuming, and uncertain. While newer technologies are being innovated to address this challenge, time will only tell how well it fares.

The Market

As per ongoing buzz in the market and as reported in various media, “the India battery market is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 15% during the forecast period of 2020-2025”. More and more companies are jumping on the bandwagon and initiating measures to support the charging ecosystem for the EV market. In a recent interview published on Auto.com (Economic Times), Nitin Gadkari stated that “we are organizing a meeting with Niti Aayog and we are encouraging new startups and our IIT institutions and other people to make lithium-ion batteries. After that, India is going to be the number one manufacturing hub for electric vehicles.” This rising voice of government to amplify the EV market is also adding volumes to the electric vehicle charger market not just nationally but also globally. According to a recent report published by Allied Market Research, titled, Electric Vehicle Charger Market by Vehicle Type, Charging Type, and End User: Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20202027, the global electric vehicle charger market was valued at $3.80 billion in 2019, and is projected to reach $25.50 billion by 2027, registering a CAGR of 26.8% from 2020 to 2027.

It is also crucial to note that the lithium-ion battery market (which is an integral part of EV charging infrastructure in India) is classified on the basis of:

Type: This includes segmented into Lithium Cobalt Oxide, Lithium Manganese Oxide, Lithium Iron Phosphate, Other out of which Lithium Cobalt Oxide captures the major chunk.

Component: This segment is classified into Cathode, Anode, Electrolytic Solution, Others. Electrolytic Solution dominates the market in this segment.

Application: This is classified into Consumer Electronics, Industrial, Automotive and Consumer Electronics takes the center stage currently in terms of demand.

Region: This is segmented as North India, South India, West India, and East India. The North India region is expected to launch the growth of batteries in the near future.

Some of the major key players in the EV charging market are Delta Electronics, ABB India, Exicom, Tata Power, Numocity, Okaya Power, Amara Raja, and more.

A lot of newer and sophisticated technologies are being explored to make the infrastructure smarter. In 2019, Panasonic Corporation launched Nymbus, a first of its kind smart EV charging service, in India. This advanced charging system is equipped with charging stations, swap stations, and telematics, along with cloud analytics and artificial intelligence solutions.

For higher and faster adoption of Electric Vehicles need an all-encompassing sturdy charging infrastructure and going by the current developments in the sector, the overall picture definitely looks positive and encouraging. Due to challenges are thoughtfully being addressed and the destination today seems a lot closer than what it was a few years back. With the right companies penetrating into the market and the administration’s support, we are definitely heading towards being a leader in the EV sector globally.  

Best,

Rahul Thakur