Neither Fire Nor Smoke

If there is one idea whose time has come, it is that of electricity-powered transport vehicles. The highest-ever prices of petrol and diesel of today are only one reason for this. At current, heavily subsidised, fuel prices, battery-operated electric vehicles (EVs) cost only about one-tenth as much to run as petrol-driven vehicles, and those drawing power from overhead central grid-connected lines, even less.

Little wonder, a number of Indian companies, from places as varied as Chennai, Kolkata and Rajkot, have announced plans to make electric cars. The number of electric two-wheeler brands in the market already exceeds 20 and is growing. Major global players like Honda, Nissan and General Motors (accused of “killing” its successful electric car, developed in 1997, under the pressure of the oil and ancillary industries) are launching large-scale programmes to make EVs and plug-in hybrid cars.

More important, environmental logic overwhelmingly favours EVs. They don’t run on internal combustion engines and give off no pollutants. Typically, EVs also occupy much less road space than comparable fossil-fuel transport. Their relevance in reducing traffic congestion in our horribly crowded and overpolluted cities cannot be overemphasised.

EVs have other merits too. I must make a disclosure of interest here. I have used a Reva electric car for more than three years and find it easier to drive and maintain than a bicycle. EVs are extremely simple machines and involve no multiple complex systems like fuel pumping, injection/mixing, combustion with electric synchronisation, gearbox-based transmission, and pollution- and noise-control mechanisms.

Their battery-driven motor sits on top of the axle and transmits power directly via traction. The gear-free driving is a hoot. EVs have fewer moving parts and less wear-and-tear than fossilfuel machines. I have had only one problem — besides tyre punctures — with my car in three years, necessitating a shock-absorber change. EVs also mean reduced dependence on imported fossil fuels, and encourage frugal use of space and materials.

True, in life-cycle terms, EVs, like everything else, have a carbon footprint and leave a pollution trail — from manufacture and assembly of components and batteries, and consumption of rubber, metal, and other materials, to final waste disposal. But 80 per cent of life-cycle pollution from petrol/diesel vehicles is caused during their running. That’s where EVs score decisively.

Admittedly, EVs have disadvantages too. They are not easily amenable, at today’s level of battery technology, to use in large-scale public transportation except as trolley-buses or trams drawing power from the grid. Electric cars and two-wheelers have a limited range, typically 60 to 130 km, depending on the design of batteries. They need more frequent recharging than a petrol car/scooter needs refueling: typically, two to six hours a day, for three to five days a week, depending on use. Above all, electric cars are not spacious ‘family vehicles’. Most electric cars on offer can seat two adults and two children comfortably. At a pinch, the Reva can accommodate and pull four adults in cramped conditions.

No means of private transportation, however clean, can be a substitute for mass public transport. But insofar as private transport has a role, EVs’ merits outweigh their disadvantages especially for couples or single drivers, themselves a growing proportion of India’s car and two-wheeler users. With a little planning of one’s trip, and appropriate charging, one can comfortably negotiate a city with an EV. I have never been stuck with a dead battery even while driving all the way to the international airport from south-central Delhi and back. Indeed, driving one can transform one’s experience of our roads as sites of tension, cut-throat competition for favoured lanes or space, the mouthing of abuse and display of rage. There is, then, a strong case for public support for EVs. Besides launching trolley-bus services and reviving/strengthening tram transport, such support can take three forms. First, the government should offer straightforward price subsidies and rebates in VAT, road taxes, insurance premiums and registration charges, besides free parking facilities and exemptions from congestion charges.

Many European Union governments are indeed doing so. For instance, EVs enjoy free parking in London, besides 100 per cent depreciation in the first year. They pay no congestion charge (£8 a day) in central London. Apart from outright price subsidies, France mandates that 20 per cent of all new cars in public fleets must be electric. In Italy, EVs enjoy a rebate of nearly 30 per cent on the price, besides free parking and exemption from road taxes for five years. In Japan, EVs are given handsome tax support, besides $20 billion funding for efficient battery development. As a result, ironically, there are more Revas, the world’s largestselling purely-electric cars, running in London than in Bangalore, where they are made. The Chandigarh and Delhi territory governments have just offered rebates of 29.5 per cent on EVs. Other state governments must follow suit. The Centre must also go well beyond offering its present measly rebate of Rs 75,000 for state institutional buyers. Second, the government must initiate programmes for developing lightweight, highpower batteries (e.g. lithium-ion) for EVs. Most EVs use lead-acid batteries, whose basic design is more than 100 years old. A battery revolution is waiting to happen and must be vigorously backed.

Third, the government must create an infrastructure in the form of free charging points in city centres and major car parks, which will greatly enhance the range of EVs and make them more attractive and competitive with small petrol-driven cars. That’s the way forward.