Measures to Promote E-Vehicles

Why in news?

Union Budget 2019 has announced a bold move to make a transition to electric vehicles, and offered a tax incentive for the early adopters.

What is Union government’s plan on E-vehicles?

2019 Union budget stated vision to leapfrog into an era of electric mobility and domestic vehicle manufacturing, led by public transport and commercial vehicles, is forward-looking.
It is also inevitable because poor air quality and noise pollution have sharply affected the quality of life, and pose a serious public health challenge.
An additional income tax deduction of Rs.1.5 lakh is now offered on interest paid on loans to purchase electric vehicles.
The GST Council has also been moved to cut the tax on e-vehicles to 5% from 12%.
There is a significant outlay under the second iteration of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing (of Hybrid and) Electric Vehicles (FAME) plan of Rs.10,000 crore.
This is to give a fillip to commercial vehicles and to set up charging stations.
With price competition, a speedy spread of electric two-wheelers can be expected, given that over 80% of conventional vehicles sold in India come under that category.

What innovative measures are needed?

The budgetary measures will have an immediate impact on the pricing of electric vehicles and bring in more models.
However, it will take a sustained effort by the Centre, in partnership with State governments, to enable a fast rollout of charging infrastructure.
The Ministry of Power issued guidelines and standards for this in December last year, setting technical parameters for public charging stations that can enable normal and fast charging.
Affordable charging will make these vehicles and commercial three-wheelers attractive because operating costs are a fraction of petrol and diesel equivalents.
Yet, longer range travel will require more than a charge-at-home facility.
This would have to be in the form of fast charging at parking lots, retrofitted fuel outlets, new public charging stations, hotels, offices and so on.
Swapping the battery at convenient locations with one that is pre-charged, especially for commercial vehicles that run longer and need a quick turnaround, is worth considering.
A longer-term policy priority has to be the setting up of lithium battery production and solar charging infrastructure of a scale that matches the ambition.

Source: The Hindu