The electric vehicle market in the city is yet to gain traction because of the prohibitive costs and unreliability of the charging mechanism.
Lack of facilities for recharging batteries, an inability to provide longer driving range per charge and slower pick-up are some of the other drawbacks holding back the market.
But with emissions from the automotive sector constituting 40 per cent of the total carbon dioxide emissions world-over, experts say the time is right for the market to gear itself up and manufacture improvised and dependable electric vehicles.
Venkat Viswanathan, assistant professor, Carnegie Melon University, said automotive players in developed countries are making big strides, with Tesla having a headstart in the electric vehicle segment, using lithium ion battery technology. However, the heavy weight of the battery unit has given an impetus to research on other components to replace the ‘metal ion’.
“Lithium Air or Li-air technology has shown a lot of positive features, including the possibility of replacing the heavier component of cobalt or metal ion, typical in lithium-ion batteries, with weightless air. It is considered to be a technology that can leap forward to become commercially viable,” said Dr. Viswanathan.
Dr. Viswanathan, who is involved in research on Li-air technology, is confident that if breakthroughs are made, it could bring down the costs of e-bikes and give longer driving range per recharge.
