A highlight on the recent developments in the Indian EV market.

Things are evolving quite fast in the Indian Electric Vehicles market. As per IESA, Indian EV market will hit the mark of 6.3 million vehicles per annum by 2027. If India sticks to its EV plans, as per a study by CEEW-CEF, it would be $206 billion EV market by 2030. We had published an article about the EV ecosystem in India some time back. An update felt necessary sooner than we had expected. This in itself explains the speed at which things are moving ahead. In this article, we have tried putting together some of the landmark developments in the Indian EV landscape. For better readability and a granular view, we have broken down these developments under some themes such as developments from OEMs, government policies, growth in supply chain related opportunities etc.

Do let us know in case you feel we have missed out any important happening in the EV vertical.

Government

When it comes to Electric Vehicles, Indian government has been trying to make India an early adopter rather than a laggard. This intention is visible in actions of not only the central government but also individual state governments.

In a symbolic move, just a few weeks ago, the Minister for Road Transport & Highways upgraded his ride from a Toyota Fortuner to MG ZS Electric Vehicle. He also announced his intentions to make EVs compulsory for everyone in his department.

Just a week back, he announced the Go Electric campaign to reduce the import dependency of the country in the coming years. The campaign also aims making India cleaner and greener. The government has initiated Phase-II of FAME Scheme with an outlay of Rs. 10,000 Crore (~USD1.5 billion) for a period of 3 years. A major chunk of the fund goes towards demand-based incentives to boost demand of EVs across all vehicle segments. This phase aims to generate demand by way of supporting 7000 electric buses, half a million electric three wheelers, 55000 electric four wheeler PVs (including Strong Hybrid) and a million electric two wheelers. As of now, as per the website of Ministry of Heavy Industries, India has 33 manufacturers who already have their products registered under the FAME II scheme and that are getting this incentive.  Funds amounting to INR 2.1 billion have already been released for procurement of e-Buses under the Fame II scheme as on 31.01.2021. 86 proposals from 26 States/UTs have been received for deploying 15,000 e Buses. The ministry of road transport and highways, in a virtual conference, announced plans to set up e-charging kiosks at around 69,000 petrol pumps across the country. This will be a much required and well in time move towards a robust charging network across the country.

Apart from such macro scale nationwide policies, many state governments have also put together regulations to ensure an early migration towards EVs. For instance, Telangana government rolled out a 10 years long EV policy and is eying at investments worth USD 10 billion. If we look at the state wise numbers of on street electric vehicles, Karnataka has highest number of electric vehicles in India. The government further wants to increase the EV penetration. Just a few days ago, the Deputy Minister of the State of Karnataka announced plans to EV charging points mandatory in large housing societies. This statement combined with Tesla’s intention to set up assembly line in Karnataka becomes a very strong statement.

OEMs

As we discussed earlier, India already has more than 30 manufacturers that are registered under the FAME scheme. There are many more manufacturers who either have an offering or are able to launch one soon. Ride hailing company Ola has entered an MOU with Tamil Nadu government to invest $327 million in an electric scooter manufacturing facility capable of producing 2 million bikes per annum.

Amazon India and Mahindra Electric announced a partnership under which Amazon has deployed the Mahindra’s electric vehicles in its delivery network as part of a commitment towards strengthening electric mobility in the country. As a part of this collaboration, Amazon India has deployed close to hundred Mahindra Treo Zor EVs in seven major cities, the companies said in a joint statement.

Country’s largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. has plans to launch its electric vehicle Maruti Suzuki Wagon R electric vehicle in the second half of 2021. Tata Motors has announced an ambitious pricing plan to launch affordable EVs which will deliver at least 200+ kms in a single charge. Another EV player, MG Motor India announced plans to launch sub INR 2 million electric vehicle in the next year.

KPIT and BMW have joined hands to work together on a charging electronics program.

Hyundai Motor India Ltd is studying the feasibility of launching a low-cost electric vehicle (EV) for consumers, treating the project as its “No. 1 priority” for the future, managing director S.S. Kim said.  In order to secure a position in the Indian EV market, Hyundai is working towards launching an India centric EV.

The celebrated EV manufacturer – Tesla, has already registered its India entity and has appointed three directors. It is anticipated that Tesla will begin its assembly somewhere near Bangalore.

Bajaj Auto is also investing INR 6.5 billion in facility to build conventional as well as electric bikes. Hero MotoCorp backed electric two-wheeler manufacturer, Ather Energy has plans to invest INR 6 billion in its Tamil Nadu factory to scale up the production. The plant has existing capacity of producing above a hundred thousand scooters and battery packs every year.

Supply Chain

India’s second biggest conventional battery maker Amara Raja is looking to build a Lithium-ion assembly plant soon. The firm is already working in collaboration with different state governments to promote the use of electric vehicles. Amara Raja has collaborated with Delhi government to set up charging station. Amara Raja launched EV charging stations and battery swapping stations in collaboration with Tirupati Municipal Corporation along with a fleet of electric auto-rickshaws as part of the central government’s Smart Cities program.

A major Indian auto parts maker, Minda Industries is in touch with original equipment manufacturers for possible EV-compatible systems and is evaluating existing products to see how they will fit into the market. Minda has strategically increased its EV R&D budget.

Sun Mobility’s move to build a hundred battery swapping stations in Bengaluru to MG Motors setting up battery recycling facility for its EV – ZS highlight supply chain demands for tier 1s and tier 2s in the Indian EV market. US based electric vehicles manufacturer Triton has signed an MoU with Bharat Electronics Limited for developing EVs and energy storage systems.

Ola Electric has partnered with ABB for robotics and automation solutions for its electric scooter factory.

EV and energy storage technology startup, Matter expects to achieve a turnover of USD 1 billion by 2025, according to a top company official. Matter will be launching its lithium-ion batteries for solar and renewable management by April, which will be followed by its first electric motorcycle closer to Diwali this year.

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways mentioned that India will create a policy for research and development on the next generation of battery technologies for electric vehicles, like metal-ion, metal and hydrogen fuel cell, etc., The idea is to reduce India’s imports of Li-ion batteries and boost internal ecosystem. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said that with a unified approach and with key arms of the government working in collaboration, a new policy will be required and the work on that has started.

Applications

India also got its first electric tractor from the homegrown manufacturer Sonalika. Another leading tractor manufacturer in India – Escorts received CMVR certificate and is set for commercially launching electric tractor in India.

Indian construction equipment manufacturers are also planning to launch electric versions of compact construction equipment in the coming year or two. Since these equipment are used round the clock, the electric versions have a better TCO even at current price points.

Once the battery cost comes down, they will also electrify the higher capacity versions which require a larger battery pack.

Aiming to capture the strong demand for EV three wheelers through e-commerce and municipal corporations, Piaggio plans to bring electric three-wheelers. Pure EV, a start-up incubated in IIT Hyderabad is all set to roll out the first e-bike.

Indian Battery management and intelligence system provider ION Energy recently announced its strategic partnership with lithium-ion battery pack manufacturer Wamtechnik to enable a European construction maker to deploy its first electric excavator.

Clean Mobility

India has announced a National Hydrogen Mission to create a roadmap for using hydrogen as an alternate energy source. The initiative is looking at transport sector as its major beneficiary. Closely after Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed the introduction of a “National Hydrogen Energy Mission” in her budget speech, there have been news about government preparing to hold auctions for green hydrogen, which is hydrogen produced from renewable energy sources.

India’s largest energy conglomerate, NTPC Limited (National Thermal Power Corporation Limited) is planning to start a premium hydrogen fuel bus service on Delhi to Jaipur route. This would be the first FCEV bus service in India to be used for intercity commute.

As it can be seen, India is not only prepared for EVs but is also looking beyond the conventional EVs using Li-ion batteries. Do get in touch with me at sudhir.nerurkar@quanzen.com to know more.