Yesterday I was in a Tata Showroom in Bangalore. A friend was checking the Tata Nexon. We went to the garage to see a few of the variants parked for servicing. One of the things I observed was EV taxis. There were quite a few of them and of a particular company the name which I cannot recollect at the moment.
I had a chat with the service engineer - he mentioned 11 lakhs approx for the vehicle and a 100 km for each charge. I am interested in understanding how many of those have been sold. I remember almost a decade and more back, a travel agent telling me Karnataka has the largest number of volvos in India and they are leading the way in buying luxury buses. If taxis start moving to electric, it will provide a big volume boost to these cars. All they need is an approx 200km mileage per charge and they should be good to go (inner city).
Note: To be clear the vehicle were Tataâs, I cannot remember the name of the tour operator or cab aggregator whose name was on the taxis.
None of the figures he cites make any sense to me atleastâŚ
//âThe annual output of Teslaâs Gigafactory, the worldâs largest battery factory, stores [only] three minutesâ worth of annual U.S. electricity demand. It would require 1,000 years of production to make enough In a March 2019 report, Manhattan Institute scholar Mark P. Mills showed that â$200,000 worth of Tesla batteries, which collectively weigh over 20,000 pounds, are needed to store the energy equivalent of one barrel of oilâ. for two daysâ worth of U.S. electricity demandâ.//
Why does the author compare capacity of teslaâs factory to the entire USAâs electricity demand ?
What correlation does this have ?
2)// In a March 2019 report, Manhattan Institute scholar Mark P. Mills showed that â$200,000 worth of Tesla batteries, which collectively weigh over 20,000 pounds, are needed to store the energy equivalent of one barrel of oilâ.//
This is random throwing of numbers and data to naive readers in an attempt to mislead.
IC engines waste more than half of its energy. This clearly means that either the engine are completely inefficient or the fuel is too rich in energy. While there is a limit to how much an IC engine can be made efficient, the later problem can be solved by by replacing it eill slower but continuous source of power, snd thats what a electric battery does to a car.
//The 648 MW Kamuthi solar plant in Tamil Nadu covers ten square kilometres. A tenth of that land would have been sufficient for a larger capacity nuclear facility.//
âŚand he conveniently keeps silent our how to handle the nuclear waste.
//The sunâs incoming energy is extremely dilute, requiring panels spread over vast swathes of land to absorb it, thus pushing out forests and harming biodiversity. //
This gives a impression that forests are being cut down to install solar panel. Nothing can be further from truth.
Solar panels are being installed in non-areable, non productive lands only.
All in all, this article completely turns common sense upside down for a naive innocent reader.
Any thoughts or review on the new upgraded Tigor ev?
The range of over 200km seems decent for a 12lac(for individual buyers) car. Considering 50km of per day city driving, itâll require charging twice a week. This doesnât seem like too much of hassle, atleast on the face of it.
If my primary care is a Ford endeavor or Fortuner, I could buy a 12 lakh electric toy as second car. How many folks have this kind of funds? Very few if you look at sales chart.
Entirely depends on usage. I would buy one like this since nearly 95% of my journeys are less than 100kms a day and greater than 30 kms a day - which rules out a bike/scooter.
But I would be worried if there are no charging points around where I live and am going to. And I think that needs to change. The government can really do a lot here. Just ensuring privitization of discoms could help with last mile connectivity for uses like electric cars. Switching discoms should be as simple as switching phones. Unfortunately for that to happen, electricity should not remain a key election issue and govts should not be able to provide free electricity as election sops. https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/govt-may-increase-private-sector-dosage-to-improve-discoms-health/article28749534.ece#
Excel sheet calculation and expecting government to provide infra wonât work. Practically people in India can afford B segment and at most C segment cars. 90% of car owners have only 1 car and 50% buy their first car. Nobody in this group with the right mind will buy an electric car for 12 lakhs. Once EV can match a petrol car in upfront expense, we can expect it to grow. In my opinion, this will eventually happen after 10 to 30 years. Until that period, enjoy the cash flows from ICE.
I would say go ahead and buy one. For your usage the Tigor with the mentioned range would be a perfect fit. Also check if you are commuting to office if there are electric charging points in the parking lot. I have observed recharge points in a lot of office parking spaces.
Note: Do read reviews and do some basic calculations like when do you need to replace the batteries and how much they will cost etc. Of course needless to mention do take a slightly longish test ride to see how the driving, acceleration etc. feels.
I have invested in Olectra in my PF. This was based on the news of their tie up with one of the worldâs big battery manufacturer Byd. Company has started giving profit at operating level.A big business house from Hyderabad has taken equity in the company. Its only a thematic investment, so far in minor loss. Lets see, your views are welcome.
Currently considering 2 companies : JBM & Olectra which are gaining traction in EV bus sector.
JBM
JBM auto had received 300 noâs bus in their order book to be delivered to Delhi government by March 2020.
JBM auto are featuring into mini bus 9 meter and 12 meter electric bus
They are expanding in India to make local product under brand make in India, they are targeting to achieve 2 lakh employment facility in India by 2022-24.
Apart from EV JBM are also into supplies of auto components and systems for cars, engineering, railways.
Their Non EV part supply clients are : M&M, Lamborghini, Maruti and so on
OLECTRA
Olectra on other end has partnered with BYD (One of the largest EV
makers in the world)
Olectra is getting into customer segment of getting local cars
Already delivered bus to Mumbai, Kerala, Bangalore and are running condition with having more order number in books.
Implementing EVs station across Bangalore
My question would be basis on :
Are JBM has edge/potential on Olectra in terms od scaling and delivery?
Tata, Mahindra in terms of scaling and delivery are major players but would costing put them back? as already lot of consumers do have a car and unwilling to buy at heavy cost
Olectra/BYD are getting passenger vehicles too meet local customer demands would this be disruption for Indian brands such as Mahindra, Tata, Ashok in terms of pricing power, cost and future scale?
Recently got to know Olectra are scaling their EV charging stations at Bangalore
There may be external demands too for the bus on private sector such as on tourist bus. Major travel agents such as SRS, SUGAMA, CANARA, VRL on the south side.
Note : Was invested at JBM and had changed my mind to Olectra due to their brand and scale as well as governmentâs order to the company.
Thane Municipal Transport have some e-busesâŚnamed UtopiaâŚnot sure who the manufacturer isâŚthe batteries take 1 hour to charge and gives you 170 kmsâŚpretty decent figures for a public transport busâŚi guess
