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In this month’s EV industry analysis, Raphae and Amit speak about Delhi’s EV policy announcement. We discuss policy in detail and also speak to an industry expert on the subject.
We also discuss Ampere’s battery subscription plan in partnership with Autovert Technologies. We also analyse a Forbes article about the huge cynicism and hate we see online towards EVs.
Video : Delhi EV Policy : The Electric Vehicle Capital of India? | PluginIndia Show #13
Delhi’s EV policy – Is policy enough? Do we also need regulations?
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during a press conference on 7 August 2020 rolled out a new electric vehicle policy to boost the economy by creating jobs and also reduce air pollution in the national capital.
We went through the Delhi EV policy document and these are the important points that we want to highlight.
- First and most important point is – Financial Incentives for purchasing an EV
- When you buy an EV, there is no Road Tax and Registration Fees
- Delhi government will focus on Charging Stations, Battery Swap Stations and an open database of these stations.
- They are also creating a dedicated EV Cell for spreading awareness.
- Points have been mentioned about creating a battery recycling ecosystem.
- Finally, they are creating a state EV fund.
Raphae
Another awesome point on the Delhi EV policy is the support and encouragement for delivery businesses to switch to electric. Essentially if you are a food delivery business or an e-Commerce Logistics provider or a courier agency, then u should transition 50% of your fleet to electric by 2023 and 100% fleet by 2025!
Amit, if you remember, in last month’s episode we showcased how businesses are ditching petrol scooters and are moving towards electrics.
This policy/regulation from the Delhi government will encourage more delivery businesses to move towards electric.
Amit
The focus is also with electric two wheelers, as two thirds of vehicles registered in Delhi are two wheelers.
- The Delhi government will offer Rs 5000 per kWh upto Rs 30,000 will be a subsidy offered for two wheelers. Here are two examples:
- So the ‘Cost Before On-Road’ or Ex-ShowRoom price of the Revolt Electric Motorcycle, after FAME 2 subsidy is Rs 1,03,999 in other cities. In Delhi, the Revolt will have a subsidy of Rs 16,200 to cost Rs 87,799. (3.24 kWh)
- Or the PureEV ePluto 7G having an ExShowroom price after the FAME 2 subsidy is Rs 80,000 in other cities. In Delhi, it will have a Rs 14,500 State subsidy to cost Rs 65,500.
(2.9 kWh
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Raphae
Which is awesome, you are getting a high powered electric scooter lower than the cost of many petrol scooters like Activa which will encourage many to go Electric. Also with RTO, Registration and Road Tax eliminated, the on road price of an electric scooter would be = Ex Showroom Price + Insurance. Making things very easy for Delhi folks.
Amit
Another awesome scheme in the Delhi EV policy is for e-Autos, where they are encouraging and offering incentives upto Rs 7500 to scrap the pollution autos and offer subsidy of Rs 30,000 for purchasing an eAuto. This will encourage self employment and encourage wide ownership of e-Autos. Similar encouragement is offered to Goods carriers with Rs 30,000 subsidy.
Raphae
Regarding Charging, all new homes and commercial buildings should have 20% of all parking, EV ready. There is also a grant and subsidy for existing societies and buildings to install charge points. Also Delhi NCR area will have a huge number of Charge points all over in coming years.
Amit
So we wanted to get more insights from the industry on the policy, we decided to speak to Mr Kanv Garg, Director at EY, who has been involved in multiple consulting projects in the Indian EV Space. Please watch the video above to listen to his insights.
Raphae
That was a great insight from Kanv there. And yes the next step is to create regulations to limit ICE vehicles and push EVs. We hope that would be the next step.
The industry leaders are hailing the Delhi EV policy.
You guys can read and do comment below on your thoughts on the Delhi EV policy or if you want to add your point about the discussion we had with Kanv.
You can study the Delhi EV policy here.
Ampere announced India’s first battery subscription plan
Amit
Ampere Electric on Wednesday announced that it has launched industry’s 1st battery subscription plan in partnership with Autovert Technologies. Battery subscription plan is said to reduce the cost of vehicle purchase. The latest Magnus Pro scooter can be purchased by paying just ₹49,990, whilst opting for a monthly battery subscription of ₹1,990.
Commenting on the partnership, P Sanjeev, COO, Ampere Vehicles said,
“We are happy to partner with Autovert Technologies to introduce this unique battery subscription plan. With this association clubbed with special Ampere freedom offers, we are aiming to make Ampere Vehicles more affordable and accessible for the consumer.”
Raphae
That is great to hear Amit. Indian consumers are very sensitive to higher sticker prices. The Magnus Pro electric scooter was launched at Rs 73,990 a few months back. And now with a sticker price of Rs 49,990 and a monthly payment, this should be a very attractive proposition.
Amit
Also Raphae, the battery leasing scheme in Indian EV world is not new. Back in 2014, Mahindra Electric offered the e2o on a battery lease scheme which was very popular with e2o owners.
Raphae
I remember many e2o owners paid more than 7.2 lakhs for e2o in 2013. But with the battery leasing scheme the e2o had a sticker price of around 5.5 lakhs and that was very attractive for many. Overall this is a positive move by Ampere and we hope other OEM’s too offer this scheme to reduce the sticker price of EVs.
Amit
Also Raphae, EV OEMS have to offer customers all options – Outright purchase, Battery Leasing, Vehicle leasing. The more options we have the more easier it is to convert people to EVs & abandon ICE vehicles. Do note Ampere has tied up with AutoVert, who have made this scheme available only in Bengaluru. They hope to launch this pan India soon.
Why EV sales are still low, world over despite proven economy, efficiency and performance of EVs?
Amit
At PluginIndia, you guys always get the real facts about Electric Vehicles, Batteries, Charging and so on. When it comes to EVs, we also expose ICE Auto OEMS, mainstream media and pollution vehicle media for not doing enough. And for a change we see this refreshing article on the Forbes website, which answers the question on why EV sales are still low, world over despite proven economy, efficiency and performance of EVs. And that is today’s 3rd news item.
Raphae
The forbes article, written by Mr James Morris, talks about the huge cynicism and hate we see online towards EVs. Which is exactly what we at PluginIndia experience too. The hate for EVs reminds the author of social media-fuelled political arguments. And we totally agree. We have observed that petrol heads and fossil fuel industry executives hate EVs so much, that any EV discussion online resembles debates between “Secular Liberals” vs Nationalists in India or Progressives vs the Establishment in USA
It all seems to be driven by a fundamental dislike for change. EV’s causes huge disruption and the establishment does not like that.
Amit
The author also talks about how there are lack of EV options in the market and quotes Rupert Mitchell, Chief Strategy Officer at Chinese EV manufacturer – WM Motor
“The reason there is not so much choice in the EV market is because existing manufacturers don’t want to sell electric cars,”.
Mitchell argues that it’s no surprise that the major players in the EV space are not established Auto manufacturers, but disruptive newcomers like Tesla, BYD and other “only EV” manufacturers.
Raphae
And that is the case here in India too. Despite the huge potential of Electric Scooters in reducing pollution, noise on our roads the Indian established 2 wheeler manufacturers continue to create ICE vehicle options and ignore EVs. Bajaj, who have started delivering the Chetak electric scooter, recently announced that they will take a limited approach to EVs.
TVS has an electric scooter called iQube, but it’s been more than 6 months and they have not bothered to expand to other cities. Hero Motocorp, Honda, Vespa, Suzuki – these are giant ICE two wheeler manufacturers who don’t even offer a single EV option and it’s mid 2020 already.Same with the giant car makers like Maruti. This “anti EV”, “delay the EV movement game” is clearly being played out in India as well.
Amit
The author also tells us how Auto Dealers don’t want to sell EVs. The article says :
The salespeople in dealers have little knowledge of EVs, making it genuinely hard to buy one. Anecdotal accounts of showrooms in the US allege salespeople there try to actively discourage EV sales, instead directing customers back to ICE. This is likely because car sales margins are traditionally low, and they make their money selling aftermarket service packages – which are almost not needed with EVs
Raphae
And this is exactly what is happening in India too, Amit. We have experienced this first hand at one of the Mahindra dealers. One of my neighbours wanted to get an electric car and we gave them all the numbers to go to the Mahindra dealer to get an e2o electric car. This was in 2015. The dealer sales team strongly suggested them to go for the pollution causing eKUV diesel car instead 😐
Amit
Finally, the author ends with this paragraph
If you’ve driven an EV, with an open mind, you will have realised how effortless and smooth it is. EV’s are not perfect, but in many ways EV’s are now just better than their fossil fuel forebears – cleaner, requiring less maintenance, faster, more reliable, even more spacious. That’s not going to be enough for EV’s to succeed, however. There are a lot of vested interests in fossil fuel vehicles – not just the fuel industry itself, or even the manufacturers, but also the showroom networks and service centres. This is what needs to be addressed for EV’s to succeed, and it will take quite a bit of effort to do so.
Raphae
Mr James Morris, we salute your investigative journalism, which is hard to find these days in mainstream media. You have clearly shown the dirty games being played by Fossil fuel industry along with the pollution vehicle OEMs. This is happening around the world and is happening in India too.
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