Will Electric Vehicles be cheaper in the near future?

Today, we have quite a few Electric Vehicle options available in the market. These vehicles are rich in features but are quite expensive. In this article, we look at the ways that can bring down the cost of EVs and make them economic in the near future.

First, we need to understand what makes Electric Vehicles expensive. The main component that contributes to the cost is the battery pack. To offer better range (Kms/ full charge), manufacturers add higher kWh rating battery packs and each additional kWh power adds a significant cost.

New registrations of Electric vehicle worldwide, cost of EVs

Below, we discuss ways that can reduce the cost of EVs

Develop charging infrastructure:

The limiting factor of batteries on driving range can be addressed by developing efficient charging infrastructure. This can include fast-charging stations at regular distances and battery swapping stations.
This way, the overall battery power can be reduced thus bringing down the cost. This may also result in a reduction of the total weight of the vehicle and improve its energy-efficiency.
Charging infrastructure can be rolled out on a city by city basis where the cities contributing the maximum number of vehicles are prioritized first.
Also read: Cost for setup Electric Vehicle Charging Station in India

Increase the overall efficiency of vehicles:

Government can incentivise manufacturers that work towards improving vehicle efficiency, thereby reducing energy power consumption.
What this means is the vehicle can travel more kilometres per kWh energy, thus allowing to reduce the battery size and maintaining a good range at the same time.
Energy efficiency can be improved by using more efficient electric motors, using better tyres, enhancing the aerodynamics of the vehicles and reducing its weight.
Also read: Electric Vehicle manufacturers in India

Select appropriate battery chemistries and explore new ones:

As we already mentioned, the battery pack makes up the majority of the cost of an EV. As such, we need to utilize the battery chemistry that best suits a region’s temperatures.
We also need to analyze the cost of different materials used in batteries. Depending on the analysis, we can use the chemistry that costs less and offers good efficiency.
We must also obtain battery materials through recycling of used batteries.

Provide fiscal support for EVs:

The government is already providing subsidies to companies manufacturing EVs or their components and a reduction in GST. This will encourage manufacturers as well as buyers in adopting EVs fairly early.
The government can also experiment with Tradable auto emission coupons or credits based on CO2 emissions of vehicles and these coupons can have a certain price associated.
Also read: Growth of Electric Vehicle Industry in India
This way, EVs will earn coupons owing to zero-emission and their cost can be brought down and the ICE vehicles will become expensive due to their CO2 emissions.

Conclusion:

EVs are in a nascent stage right now and are quite expensive compared to the ICE vehicles. However, with advancements in EV technologies and considering the above factors, the cost of Electric Vehicles will definitely come down in the near future.

You can let us know what are your thoughts on this by commenting on the article.

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