Inevitable Electric

It was a hot afternoon in June and Pradeep was having a rather heated conversation with the service station supervisor as he explained him the repairs of his six year old car.

Sir, it’s a coolant leak; said Shobit, hurryingly scribbling some numbers in the service entry sheet. Pradeep murmured; yeah and it has to happen now...the afternoons are scalding away in New Town…aah !

But even before he could complete; Shobit clarified that it? was possibly caused by an animal...a rodent perhaps..

As Shobit reasoned the possibility of an animal-caused damage, another car came in, blowing away the scribbled sheet, making it fall right into the hands of its payer. WOW, the sight was not less than a climax in the daily soap on TV; where the protagonist dramatizes; what…What..WHAT...????

But well, this wasn’t the TV screen but the real agony of Pradeep who was quite shocked to see the estimated costs and had started to feel the heat around.?

Even though Pradeep loved his car (this was his first !) and would go through the repair,? his mind was already in the drift. Is it the right time to think of a new car? Given the fuel prices going through the roof, how about buying an electric car?

He was quite influenced by the trending e-drives and of course his middle-class pocket would have loved to experience lesser fuel costs. Also he was impressed by these vehicles as they boast of a moral righteousness which is hard to ignore. To top it all, the Government incentives were quite enticing.

Like many of his friends and colleagues, Pradeep’s first car was pre-owned and he started doing a mental calculation about the monthly EMI that he will / would have to cough up if he buys a new car. He was unmarried and taking an auto loan didn’t seem to be a stretch, given his salary. Soon Pradeep raced over those thoughts and parked the idea of buying an electric car for later. As a true Libra, he would search and research the pros and cons well before deciding upon anything.?

With a pale face, Pradeep swiped his card and drove back home.?

Not just Pradeep, but for many of us, this is no less than a jigsaw. We read and read, we consider and consider but at some point, we park it for later.?

How good are these cars for the environment??

And would I be having complete peace of mind upon owning an e-car? Where would I charge this? Would I be able to go on long drives??

The questions are many and the answers are not clear as yet.?

Let’s start with the most important point, at least for me. How good are the EVs in terms of the environment??

A study was done by the German Fraunhofer Institute and this study points to multiple factors that should be considered.?

In the whole life cycle of an electric vehicle, the manufacturing is more energy intensive than a conventional vehicle due to the battery production process. On the other hand, driving an electric car causes lesser greenhouse gas emission compared to a conventional car. But this actually depends on the source of electricity used. In India, in 2019, coal (54.67%), oil (30.06%) and gas (6.31%) accounted for more than 90% of total electricity produced. Unless these figures improve and transition to renewable energy sources, the point of ‘environmental impact’ will not stand strong. At least 50% of energy production has to be from renewable sources if we want to be anywhere near the target of better green house gas balance.

Another point that is critical, is the ‘Recycling of batteries’. There are secondary use scenarios for batteries that we have to consider in the long run. Why? Because extraction of raw materials for production of batteries is extremely energy hungry and so is trying to breakdown a defunct battery for salvaging the materials in it. Also, there is a very heavy ecological impact of battery production in terms of particulate emissions, use of water, acidification (emissions of acid-forming gases that pollute ecosystems) and human toxicity (emissions of substances that are toxic or carcinogenic for humans).?

So the existing battery technology is not enough for a sustainable battery production system. We need to devise a less polluting battery technology.Perhaps the upcoming solid state battery tech will prove to be the game changer. Compared to a Li Ion battery, this type of battery has many advantages like higher energy density leading to longer range, lesser time to charge and many others. But now it's too early to see solid state batteries in production and in mass use.

Are bigger batteries actually better? Or should there be more public charging points? Or should the manufacturers move towards a universal battery pack kind of concept? The idea is that when your car’s battery is running low, you visit a battery swap station and just replace your battery with a fully charged one instead of waiting to get your car charged.?Perhaps this idea is too far-fetched as the Auto OEMs are doing their own R&D to design the ultimate battery tech which would then be the key differentiator for the customers to consider while buying a car and no OEM would let go of this competitive advantage.

Going electric is ultimately inevitable but how fast will the change take place?

Major OEMs predict that they are going to change very fast. General Motors says that by 2035 all its vehicles will be electric, For Ford it will be 2030 when its all vehicles sold in Europe will be electric and VW says 70% will be electric by 2030.

The next 10 years will be revolutionary. The s-curve has already started to kick-in. If one can afford now,? then make the change to electric now or wait for a few years till we have more charging stations, improved battery technology and car control systems to make that big jump.