87% Indians would buy electric vehicles if that reduced pollution: survey

1. 87% Indians would buy electric 87% Indians would buy electric vehicles if that reduced vehicles if that reduced pollution- survey pollution- survey Transportation accounts for about 11 per cent of India's carbon emissions and is a major source of air pollution in several cities nationwide. About 87 per cent of Indian drivers and vehicle owners would buy an electric vehicle (EV), if that helped reduce air pollution, according to a new survey.Only 12 per cent would switch to EVs to avoid using petrol and diesel, according to the survey commissioned by Climate Trends, a Bengaluru-based nonprofit, which polled more than 2,000 Indian drivers, owners and those who planned to buy a car.The findings of the Climate Trends survey were launched on September 6, 2018, a day before the start of a two-day long conference organised by NITI Aayog, the central government’s think-tank. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was expected to launch a policy on ‘Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric vehicles’ (FAME-II), much-anticipated policy for the Indian EV industry. The first phase, FAME-I, was released in 2015.The policy will focus on reducing the price of batteries in vehicles, deviating from its earlier focus on reducing the price of the entire vehicle by providing subsidies, said the report.

2. EV manufacturers and sellers were waiting for a single policy that laid out a roadmap for creating an EV ecosystem, including charging stations and manufacturing and buying incentives, IndiaSpend reported on March 5, 2018.About 76 per cent of drivers and owners surveyed said that they, their friends, family and neighbours, were suffering the effects of poor air quality, according to the survey.The highest number of respondents who said they suffered from air pollution were from Delhi. About 91 per cent of those surveyed said that either their health or that of someone in the family or neighbourhood was affected by air pollution, said the survey.Similarly, high percentages were recorded in Hyderabad (78 per cent), Chennai (75 per cent), Mumbai (74 per cent), Bengaluru (71 per cent), and Kolkata (70 per cent), according to the survey. The most common symptoms of ill-health from poor air quality were shortness of breath, trouble breathing (55 per cent), headaches (51 per cent) and coughing (51 per cent). These symptoms are more common in Delhi and urban areas and less common among 18- to 24-year-olds and in rural areas, said the survey.The lack of charging stations near homes was identified as the biggest roadblock to buying EVs, according to 60 per cent of respondents, followed by inadequate driving range (46 per cent).EVs take too long to recharge (31 per cent), they are not available with the same features and styles as petrol or diesel vehicles (26 per cent), and they are too expensive for the range they deliver (25 per cent), were other major objections.India is the world’s third-largest market for automobiles, with about 25 million internal combustion (IC) engines sold in 2017. More than 80 per cent, or about 20 million of those–more than any other country– were two-wheelers, said the survey release.India, however, sold less than a million electric vehicles–4 per cent of IC engine vehicles sold–in 2017, according to the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV), an EV manufacturer’s body. Of these, more than 93 per cent were electric three-wheelers and 6 cent twottwo-wheelers.The two-wheeler segment is expected to lead the EV market in India, not cars or buses. “We will see electric two-wheelers as a way to adapt proclivity of electric mobility in India, instead of forced adoption through four-wheelers,” Rebecca Lindland, senior director and executive analyst at Kelley Blue Book, a California-based vehicle valuation and auto research firm, told Mint on February 13, 2018.Two-wheeler manufacturers, however, were disappointed with the government focus on electric two-wheelers. The draft of FAME-II policy suggests that the subsidy given on the ex-factory price of EVs will be capped at 20 per cent.This will reduce the incentive to produce “affordable” electric two-wheelers, Sohinder Gill, director, SMEV, complained to the government, ET Auto reported on June 13, 2018. Read our full coverage on air pollution in India