EVs

A report on the prospects for a mooted $2.6tn electric vehicle market over the next decade says PHEVs – part electric, part gas-guzzling – are already losing market share rapidly to pure electric rivals, and will be extinct by 2030.

Following the Indian government’s 40 GW plan for the states, Telangana has pitched for setting up a 5 GW lithium ion plant by announcing the ready availability of 200 acres of land and power and water for the fab at a concessional rate.

The acquisition would be made through Khanij Bidesh India Ltd (KABIL)—a joint venture of three public-sector mining units—which recently visited the Lithium Triangle countries in South America (Chile, Argentina and Bolivia) to explore the possibility of lithium acquisition.

With Narendra Modi’s government stunning pollsters with another huge victory, the solar industry expects renewable power momentum to be maintained with steps including anti-dumping duty on solar module imports, a national policy for rooftop solar and an emphasis on easing private-sector participation in the power sector.

Waste-to-energy, battery lifecycle solutions and hazardous waste management will make up an increased share of Fortum’s business in future. While solar will continue to be a mainstay for the Finnish clean energy company in India, Fortum wants to deepen its presence in the electric vehicle space with smart solutions, according to Sanjay Aggarwal, the company’s India MD, and Juha Suomi, area director for Asia, who spoke exclusively to pv magazine.

Government-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals and the Automotive Research Association of India will combine their respective strengths in technology development and testing and certification to work on electric and trolley buses, EV chargers and battery and charger testing.

The world had more than half a terawatt of PV generation capacity at the end of last year as emerging solar markets picked up the slack caused by Beijing’s subsidy about-turn to the tune of a 20% rise in installations outside China.

Mobility company Shuttl will also set up more than 50 EV charging points in prime locations and state-run power distributor BSES Rajdhani Power Limited will invest in testing facilities to support stabilizing the grid for EV charging, as well as pilot schemes on effectively integrating renewable electricity into its network.

The committee is constituted for overall monitoring, sanctioning and implementation of the scheme, according to an order of the Department of Heavy Industries.

Aiming to localize production across the electric vehicle value chain, the government will support battery manufacturing at a gigawatt-scale. The initial focus will be on large-scale module and pack assembly plants by the next fiscal year, followed by integrated cell manufacturing by 2021-22.