The battery and cost
One of the biggest problems with EV’s are currently cost. New technology is, well new, and hence is not standardised or subsidised yet. The biggest money grabber is the battery. The battery ironically is the most questionable part of an EV. In fact, companies will have to do something about the degradation of batteries. A recent study found out that heat and fast charging are the major conspirators for Li-ion battery degradation. This is quite concerning as fast charging is the one thing that would allow mass adaptation of EV’s. We need to find better alternatives. As Li-ion is a better alternative to decomposed dinosaurs, but not the best.
Coming back to the cost part. That is what is preventing the average consumer from having the aforementioned eureka moment. I want to talk about Hyundai and MG here. By launching an EV version of a car that is not currently sold in India. They leave a lot to the imagination of how much the electrification costs. This is a really good idea that Hyundai started with and MG followed.
The government plays a big part in speeding up this process. As it stands, the incentives are clearly not enough for the people to make the switch. While we can’t expect huge discounts, once this technology matures and becomes mainstream, we could see some incentives, both encouraging the purchase of an electric car, and discouraging the purchase of an ICE car.
