After a century of spectacular growth powered by the internal combustion engine, the automobile industry is taking a serious look at moving away from fossil fuels, with cars, bikes and commercial vehicles powered by electricity. This quest for electromobility has surged ahead with Volvo, the Sweden-based manufacturer owned by China’s Geely, announcing a shift to all-electric or hybrid models from 2019. At the heart of the discussion is the affordability of e-vehicles (EVs) and the range they can cover on a single battery charge, if they are to become an attractive replacement for conventional motors. There is also the question of the sustainability of making millions of batteries that must be recycled. Progress is being made on some of these metrics , as a result of which the sales of all plug-in vehicles rose 40%, at 191,700 units worldwide, in the first quarter of 2017 over the same quarter in 2016. And the International Energy Agency says in its Global EV Outlook Report 2017 that the year-on-year growth was 60%. But in perspective, electric vehicles today make up only 0.2% of all light duty vehicles in the world. What is enlivening the debate on EVs is the entry of Tesla, with its goal to mass-market electric cars that are efficient on range, and offer a minimum of 340 km on one charge, while also scoring high on design.
As the single biggest component in making electromobility mainstream, attention is focussed on battery technology. If Tesla’s assessment is correct, the technological limits of this power source are being pushed constantly: less material is being used to produce higher energy density, and at lower cost. Unsurprisingly, many major automobile manufacturers have announced plans for electrics to cater to both ends of the spectrum: marques like BMW and Volkswagen aiming at several affordable models with a moderate range per charge, and luxury cars from Daimler and Audi that run longer and appeal to keen buyers. Electromobility is also politically attractive. France, which floated a global tender at the 2015 Paris climate conference for a mass market car that costs under €7,000, announced recently that it will end the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2040. India, which committed to reducing the intensity of carbon emissions under the climate agreement, could give electromobility a boost through its policy on EVs to be declared by December. Making electric two-wheelers and public transport buses attractive through tax incentives is certainly feasible, since these can be charged more easily and used for short trips within cities. The wider challenge today is to find the natural resources such as lithium, cobalt and nickel to make millions of batteries and recycle them later, besides putting up charging infrastructure across entire countries. The solutions are currently expensive. By contrast, the dilemma underscores the elegance of low-cost non-motorised options for cities, such as bicycles and walking.
