Electric Vehicles

Mass adoption of electric vehicles presents opportunities for significant battery deployment to support our grid and power our homes. Developing and adopting standards for vehicle-to-grid bidirectional technology is needed to accelerate the path to these opportunities, reports pv magazine USA’s Tim Sylvia.

Players in the electric mobility sector call for a reduction in goods and services tax on electric vehicle (EV) batteries, easy access to low-cost finance for EV buyers, and expansion of FAME Scheme subsidy to ICE-to-EV conversion kits. They also expect the government to enhance the manufacturing capacity and financial layout under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for advanced-chemistry battery cells.

Australian hydrogen vehicle and fuel cell startup H2X has partnered with Indian automotive parts manufacturer and developer Advik Hi-Tech in a deal which will see the Australian company’s products delivered into India and the wider international market.

The government provides subsidy support under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid) and Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme and reduced taxation rates to promote EV uptake in India. Purchase of 3,61,000 EVs with incentives cumulating to about INR 600 crore has been supported to date under the FAME Scheme.

The company expects the first phase of growth in the Indian electric vehicle market coming from commercial vehicles. It has been quick to capitalize on the opportunity by partnering with Switch Mobility, the electric vehicle arm of commercial vehicle major Ashok Leyland.

The private-sector power producer is investing an aggregate INR 150-crore amount into Revolt Intellicorp, a next-generation electric mobility company, as part of its strategy to diversify into new business avenues.

A new report says that combining rooftop solar with storage presents an enormous opportunity for India as the combination becomes economically viable soon. It highlights the best practices from Australia—a nation with the world’s highest rooftop solar capacity per person—to serve as a guide in planning for this integration.

Asian Development Bank’s new venture arm ADB Ventures, which invests in technology startups disrupting traditional sectors in the Asia Pacific, has made its first investments into the Indian startups Euler Motors and Smart Joules.

The US-headquartered company has registered its Indian arm by the name of Triton Electric Vehicles India in New Delhi as it plans to capture the nation’s growing EV market. It is also in discussion with a few states to set up a factory.

A new report by government thinktank NITI Aayog and Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) identifies financing as one of the hurdles for India’s electric mobility transition. It proposes solutions to lower the cost and increase finance for electric vehicles in the nation.