Electric Vehicles (EV) are becoming popular as an alternative mobility around the globe due to the requirement in reduction on carbon emission and lowered dependence on fossil fuel. The estimated number of Electric Vehicles according to the EV30@30 scenario, which defines a target of 30% sales share for EV by 2030, could reach up to 200 Million.
As the Indian automobile industry is trying to make a switch to electric vehicles to drive a wave of green mobility in the country, many new business and employment opportunities are being created at the same time. India is expected to have a projected share of 30% in new vehicles sold by 2030. It is expected that there would be about 11 Million new EV sales volume by 2030 with moderate adoption. Following are few industry sectors which can take advantage of growing number of electric vehicles in India:
Power Sector:
India is a power surplus country. The demand from electric vehicles could greatly improve the utilization factor of underutilized power. The charging pattern of EV users is considered to match with the power demand during the non-peak hours. High demand from EVs presents a huge opportunity for power grids to improve their financial strength.
Manufacturing sector:
The projected number of 11 Million new electric vehicle sales by 2030 would create huge opportunities for the manufacturing segment especially for key components like motors, controllers and batteries. Battery packs would create business opportunities in cells, packs and chemicals. India would need about 50 GWh of cells by 2025. Manufacturing these cells in India would be encouraged. Other parts like metals, plastics and electronics would be needed in electric vehicles.
Charging and Swapping Sector:
There would be requirement of about 5 million charging stations by 2030. There is a plan to set up one charging station every 3 kilometres. That gives a huge potential on bringing innovation on building various infrastructures and creating different business models. There would be different types of charging stations needed for commercial areas, residential places and mobile stations. It would create businesses in equipment, electronics, infrastructure, installations, connectivity and maintenance. There is also a good business opportunity in the use of solar energy.
Battery Swapping technology is seen as an alternative option to charging. Swapping technology, which provides a fully charged battery in exchange for a used battery, can eliminate the wait-time for charging. This provides a lot of opportunities for creating various business models for different transportation segments including taxi hailing, shared mobility and good delivery. The business opportunities could be in building battery stations, infrastructure development, swapping automation, connectivity development and maintenance & services. Solar power can also be used to recharge the used battery.
Transportation Sector:
Overall cost of running, carbon emission and pollution of an electric vehicle per km is much lower than its equivalent Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicle. These advantages give opportunities for the transportation sector to be economically more viable and environmentally more friendly. Public transport like buses and taxi-fleets can take the advantages of EV and make their operation economically and environmentally more sustainable.
Last-mile connectivity and rural transport sector:
The last mile connectivity in some cities where metro or buses are used as public transport is provided by rickshaws and autos. Whereas, the rickshaws and autos are the main public transport in some cities in India. The electric version of the rickshaws and autos not only provides greener mode of transportation but also brings more savings to the operators due to lower running cost per kilometre.
The primary transport in rural areas or villages to bus stops or train stations are Internal Combustion Engines 3 wheelers. Goods movements from farms to cities in the rural areas are primarily handled by smaller transport vehicles like rickshaws, autos and tempos. All these rural transport and freight vehicles can be replaced by more efficient and environment friendly electric vehicles. These freight vehicles in rural areas or villages can be enabled by aggregators to be made available on request as well. The electric bicycle can be a very good transportation mode for students in rural areas. Battery charging and swapping stations may be operated in selected locations in villages or rural areas.
Delivery Sector:
The delivery of goods and foods require efficient vehicles to operate. As the running cost is much lower for EV, the delivery industry would be more sustainable. The delivery personnel would be more interested as it would generate more incentives for them due to the lower running cost of the electric vehicles.
Goods carrying and material handling Sector:
The cost of moving goods and handling materials by Electric Vehicles is lower compared to ICE vehicles. There are also other advantages like less pollution and less noise. The goods carrying Electric Vehicles are good alternatives for material handling in industrial, residential and commercial areas.
Mobile charging and repair service stations:
Mobile service stations with fast charging and repair services on the road could be in high demand in situations where the battery runs out or the car breaks down. There is a good opportunity to build innovative mobile service stations together with application-based connectivity.
Hence, electric vehicle not only provides greener, cleaner and more-economical transportation but it also generates great business and employment opportunities.
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