The overall cost of ownership of buying, maintaining and running a commercial vehicle over its normal lifetime of four years, is a major driver to push the use of electric vehicles (EV)
With small vehicles dominating the roads in India, there is a need to prioritise electric two and three-wheeler segments in the country, according to new study by Ola Mobility Institute.
The overall cost of ownership, including the direct as well as indirect cost of buying, maintaining and running a commercial vehicle over its normal lifetime of four years, is a major driver to push the use of electric vehicles (EV) on Indian roads, the study says.
The parity of overall ownership cost of four-wheelers is still years away, and therefore other sections should be prioritised for electrification, it adds.
Promote high utilisation of EVs
Commenting on the findings, Anand Shah, Senior Vice President and Head of Ola Mobility Institute (OMI), said, “We are convinced that the growing base of renewable energy combined with sound policy measures to promote high utilisation of EVs can make India an exemplar for market-based electric vehicle ecosystem.”
As the biggest fleets of EVs in India are maintained by civic bodies, government agencies and app-based aggregators, shared, commercial and public transport EVs are better poised in bringing down the overall cost of ownership as compared to a personal EV.
Based on the pilot conducted, the report shows that there is a considerable potential for battery swapping as a reliable mechanism for charging for small format vehicles.
As per the pilot, the swapping of lithium-ion battery improved the available operating time by 25 per cent for three wheelers as compared to fixed battery systems. When compared to lead-acid battery, the operating time increased by 50 per cent.
