India Predicts 6 Million EVs - Most Of Them On Two Wheels
Electric cars haven’t taken the market by storm, despite a hurricane of propaganda, and despite of tsunamis of government subsidies. Now, India is joining the fray. India will spend some money to entice its citizens to go electric. Like the U.S. and China, India expects them to do so by the droves.
India’s government has approved a 230 billion rupee ($4.13 billion) plan to accelerate the production of electric and hybrid vehicle production, says Reuters. The money will be spent over the next eight years. The target is ambitious: 6 million vehicles by 2020.
It will be an uphill battle. Most manufacturers in India focus on low-emission cars,” citing the prohibitively high costs of new technologies and an almost non-existent support infrastructure,” says Reuters. India’s only electric-focused carmaker is Mahindra Reva, and even its Chairman is doubtful: “The question is the viability … The cost of the car and how much the consumer can pay, there is a gap,” Pawan Goenka told Reuters.
The plan sounds more doable when we hear that out of the 6 million green vehicles by 2020, 4 to 5 million are expected to be two-wheelers. In neighboring China, around 25 million electric bicycles are sold each year, the sales of electric cars however don’t want to get going.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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Another important factor: Electric bikes won't take very long to recharge, and recharging equipment will be cheap - totally unlike a car.
6 million EVs in a population of 1,220 million is insignificant.
I've said this all before, but allow me to say it again. The potential for electric bikes is great, as they are lightweight (relative to a car) and do not have great range expectations. Importantly, they do not have to provide a heating or airconditioning system, thus making a range of 20-30 miles doable. I do not see manufacturers using even medium grade bike parts and frames. So the bikes are unnecessarily heavy and unreliable. I disagree about the need for disk brakes. V-brakes are much more reliable and inexpensive than disks. Superlight disk brakes warp and squeal. They add weight and complexity. One already has a huge disk surface in the rim. Kits that can be fitted to decent bikes remains a viable option. As someone else noted, lead acid batteries must not be used if the machine is to hold up to repeated chargings. Regenerative braking must be employed. Legal speeds for these machines must come up to 25-30 mph. so they can integrate with traffic safely. And the makers have to stop lying about range. The reputation of these bikes will dwindle and rot on the vine if people are duped into buying a bill of goods. And yes, prices do have to come down. The field seems to be populated with get-rich-quick schemers.
about half of all restaurant deliveries in nyc are now done on cheap chinese electric bikes. i've never seen anyone attempt to pedal them. i think the drivers see the pedals as an emergency backup in case the juice fails.