5 ms·

They are lacking in EV transition. It would've been great to have lightweight cheap EVs for urban areas.

anticodon 6y ago
India has extremely poor electricity infrastructure. Outages are long and regular, electrical lines are old and flimsy. Every time there's even a small rain, there's no electricity. It's so bad that while traveling in India, I've seen electrical lines burning multiple times. Also, India lacks its own energy sources and huge solar energy project was stopped by USA/WTO (because they were unhappy that India doesn't buy expensive solar panels from USA companies).
- parimm 6y ago
  The electricity infrastructure in the larger cities is not as bad as you mention. The infra is bad in the rural areas and the quality of infra varies greatly by the state.
  - anticodon 6y ago
    I understand that nobody likes critics from foreigner. But I still stand by my point that infrastructure in India is among worst in the world. I haven't traveled the whole world, but traveled enough, and what I've seen in India is probably the worst I've seen. I was working remotely so I needed reliable electricity and Internet. I had problems with both in every city I visited (and I visited many, from New Delhi to Kanyakumari. Also, while traveling between cities on my motorcycle, I frequently saw powerlines burning or electrical poles burning in rural areas. Something I've never ever seen in any other country. Only in Nepal the situation with both is worse.
    - actuator 6y ago
      I don't think it is a foreigner thing. I have travelled a lot in India as well and I find your statement not representative of the actual ground situation. Infrastructure sure is not well done but the electricity bit is not true at least from what I have seen. If you are in a city like New Delhi/Mumbai, most homes/hotels do have reliable power. For rare cuts most have power through power backups. If you visit remote places, it is definitely worse. They have electrified a lot of places, but power is absent most of the times in the day. Some people rely on solar powered batteries for basic electrification at night. I have never seen a powerline burning though. In cities there are internet providers which do better than others, so it might have been your luck with some bad provider; but they are not even present in remote places. LTE based mobile internet has coverage problem in cities with pockets that get bad coverage, otherwise the provider 'Airtel' that I have used while traveling does seem to perform well in cities. Remote places have no coverage from LTE providers as well.
  - LordAtlas 6y ago
    As someone who lives in an Indian metro, yes it definitely is that bad. Extremely unreliable and pops up at the hint of rain. The only exception to this is Mumbai.
    - lonesword 6y ago
      Edit: I misread your comment as "definitely NOT that bad". Turns out we are saying the same thing. Well, depends on the Metro. Chennai is notorious for power cuts. Delhi is supposed to be better - but I used to live in Noida (Part of NCR, but technically UP and not Delhi) and the power cuts were ridiculous - around 60-90 minutes without power every day (I was fortunate enough to have backup power where I stayed). My small hometown that was approx 25km outside Cochin in Kerala had far more reliable power supply. The point I'm trying to make - power supply varies greatly, and being a "tier 1 metro" does not always mean more reliable power than some obscure town you've never heard of.
- kumarvvr 6y ago
  > India has extremely poor electricity infrastructure Not true in most tier 1,2 & 3 cities. Somewhat true in rest of India. However, lack of an existing electricity infra, in my book counts as an opportunity to establish micro-grids and smaller storage based grids powered off renewable energy, especially solar.
  - anticodon 6y ago
    Even the most advanced countries like Germany admit they lack necessary infrastructure for switching to 100% electrical vehicles. E.g. Germany lacks both the necessary power and infrastructure. And I'm almost sure that German electrical infrastructure is in much better shape compared to Indian. Renewable energy require several times bigger and expensive infrastructure costs because of unstable generation.
  - srean 6y ago
    In Bangalore 2 hour power cuts happen fairly regularly, in Kolkata they are once in a blue moon.
- tonyedgecombe 6y ago
  >and huge solar energy project was stopped by USA/WTO Do you have a source for that because it sounds doubtful to me.
  - anticodon 6y ago
    This has happened several years ago, so I don't even remember the name of the Indian project. But I was able to find some references: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/energy/power/india-loses-wto-appeal-in-us-solar-dispute/articleshow/54367218.cms?from=mdr https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/energy/power/i...
KorematsuFred 6y ago
EV is not a possibility in India without some serious breakthroughs in batter technology. India does not have a free market for gas stations and as a consequence there is always a shortage and you will see huge lines to fill up gas. A large number of drivers live in slums which may not even have proper electricity so they can't charge it at home. Most buildings are not designed to have electric chargers as we do not have a concept of "parking spot". We park wherever the car fits.
- newyankee 6y ago
  None of these are problems which cannot be solved within a decade. If an EV with decent price comes into the market, the market will solve the rest of the issues. Too many startups already working in all these spaces.
- kumarvvr 6y ago
  > India does not have a free market for gas stations What do you mean? There are multiple suppliers and gas stations are owned by private entities. > there is always a shortage and you will see huge lines to fill up gas Been driving for over 15 years, all over the country. Never have I seen shortages as you mention. >A large number of drivers live in slums which may not even have proper electricity so they can't charge it at home The target market for Ev's, at-least for now, is the middle class office commuting people. As for drivers unable to charge their cars at home, they could park it in charging stations. Even now, drivers park their cars far away from their homes, as being slums, you don't have place to even drive the car near their homes. > Most buildings are not designed to have electric chargers as we do not have a concept of "parking spot" Almost all apartments constructed for past 10 - 15 years, and that is a lot mind you, have designated parking spaces for each and every apartment.
  - galuano1 6y ago
    Apartments now do have designated spots, but thats not where most cars are.
    - 6y ago
actuator 6y ago
I recently read about one of the cities, New Delhi introducing benefits to increase EV adoption. The same report also mentioned an EV by some Indian manufacturer that seemed to have good specs on paper. So I am assuming there should be EVs in future from more of them as is happening in most parts of the world now.
- puranjay 6y ago
  I can't see EV adoption happening in Delhi anytime soon. There is absolutely no parking outside/inside houses here in most homes. There is no way to charge the car. My car is parked every night wherever I can find an empty spot.
ramshanker 6y ago
Currently YES. However all manufactures are full-throttle on R&D. Federal Income-Tax-Rebate already in. Few states (Ex: Delhi) already started rolling out incentives for EV purchases by reducing/removing the registration charges. And right at the top, 2 years back, federal Transport Minister announced right in front of all car manufacturers event, to which he was invited for keynote "I am not going to allow you to sell Petrol Cars after 2030". Obviously no governemnt can last that long, but still. Audience was like ...... aaaawwwwoooo, oh man, what do we do with all our current investment! Really gave the manufacture clear message to kick-start R&D NOW. And things have definitely started moving. My personal guess is at least 50% sales-market-share by 2025. Domestically manufactured EVs.
akgerber 6y ago
If they had bicycle infrastructure like China, cheap/lightweight ebikes/emopeds/escooters would be a very good option for cheap/clean/reliable urban transportation.

India has extremely poor electricity infrastructure. Outages are long and regular, electrical lines are old and flimsy. Every time there's even a small rain, there's no electricity. It's so bad that while traveling in India, I've seen electrical lines burning multiple times. Also, India lacks its own energy sources and huge solar energy project was stopped by USA/WTO (because they were unhappy that India doesn't buy expensive solar panels from USA companies).

parimm 6y ago
The electricity infrastructure in the larger cities is not as bad as you mention. The infra is bad in the rural areas and the quality of infra varies greatly by the state.
- anticodon 6y ago
  I understand that nobody likes critics from foreigner. But I still stand by my point that infrastructure in India is among worst in the world. I haven't traveled the whole world, but traveled enough, and what I've seen in India is probably the worst I've seen. I was working remotely so I needed reliable electricity and Internet. I had problems with both in every city I visited (and I visited many, from New Delhi to Kanyakumari. Also, while traveling between cities on my motorcycle, I frequently saw powerlines burning or electrical poles burning in rural areas. Something I've never ever seen in any other country. Only in Nepal the situation with both is worse.
  - actuator 6y ago
    I don't think it is a foreigner thing. I have travelled a lot in India as well and I find your statement not representative of the actual ground situation. Infrastructure sure is not well done but the electricity bit is not true at least from what I have seen. If you are in a city like New Delhi/Mumbai, most homes/hotels do have reliable power. For rare cuts most have power through power backups. If you visit remote places, it is definitely worse. They have electrified a lot of places, but power is absent most of the times in the day. Some people rely on solar powered batteries for basic electrification at night. I have never seen a powerline burning though. In cities there are internet providers which do better than others, so it might have been your luck with some bad provider; but they are not even present in remote places. LTE based mobile internet has coverage problem in cities with pockets that get bad coverage, otherwise the provider 'Airtel' that I have used while traveling does seem to perform well in cities. Remote places have no coverage from LTE providers as well.
- LordAtlas 6y ago
  As someone who lives in an Indian metro, yes it definitely is that bad. Extremely unreliable and pops up at the hint of rain. The only exception to this is Mumbai.
  - lonesword 6y ago
    Edit: I misread your comment as "definitely NOT that bad". Turns out we are saying the same thing. Well, depends on the Metro. Chennai is notorious for power cuts. Delhi is supposed to be better - but I used to live in Noida (Part of NCR, but technically UP and not Delhi) and the power cuts were ridiculous - around 60-90 minutes without power every day (I was fortunate enough to have backup power where I stayed). My small hometown that was approx 25km outside Cochin in Kerala had far more reliable power supply. The point I'm trying to make - power supply varies greatly, and being a "tier 1 metro" does not always mean more reliable power than some obscure town you've never heard of.
kumarvvr 6y ago
> India has extremely poor electricity infrastructure Not true in most tier 1,2 & 3 cities. Somewhat true in rest of India. However, lack of an existing electricity infra, in my book counts as an opportunity to establish micro-grids and smaller storage based grids powered off renewable energy, especially solar.
- anticodon 6y ago
  Even the most advanced countries like Germany admit they lack necessary infrastructure for switching to 100% electrical vehicles. E.g. Germany lacks both the necessary power and infrastructure. And I'm almost sure that German electrical infrastructure is in much better shape compared to Indian. Renewable energy require several times bigger and expensive infrastructure costs because of unstable generation.
- srean 6y ago
  In Bangalore 2 hour power cuts happen fairly regularly, in Kolkata they are once in a blue moon.
tonyedgecombe 6y ago
>and huge solar energy project was stopped by USA/WTO Do you have a source for that because it sounds doubtful to me.
- anticodon 6y ago
  This has happened several years ago, so I don't even remember the name of the Indian project. But I was able to find some references: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/energy/power/india-loses-wto-appeal-in-us-solar-dispute/articleshow/54367218.cms?from=mdr https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/energy/power/i...

KorematsuFred 6y ago

EV is not a possibility in India without some serious breakthroughs in batter technology. India does not have a free market for gas stations and as a consequence there is always a shortage and you will see huge lines to fill up gas. A large number of drivers live in slums which may not even have proper electricity so they can't charge it at home. Most buildings are not designed to have electric chargers as we do not have a concept of "parking spot". We park wherever the car fits.

newyankee 6y ago
None of these are problems which cannot be solved within a decade. If an EV with decent price comes into the market, the market will solve the rest of the issues. Too many startups already working in all these spaces.
kumarvvr 6y ago
> India does not have a free market for gas stations What do you mean? There are multiple suppliers and gas stations are owned by private entities. > there is always a shortage and you will see huge lines to fill up gas Been driving for over 15 years, all over the country. Never have I seen shortages as you mention. >A large number of drivers live in slums which may not even have proper electricity so they can't charge it at home The target market for Ev's, at-least for now, is the middle class office commuting people. As for drivers unable to charge their cars at home, they could park it in charging stations. Even now, drivers park their cars far away from their homes, as being slums, you don't have place to even drive the car near their homes. > Most buildings are not designed to have electric chargers as we do not have a concept of "parking spot" Almost all apartments constructed for past 10 - 15 years, and that is a lot mind you, have designated parking spaces for each and every apartment.
- galuano1 6y ago
  Apartments now do have designated spots, but thats not where most cars are.
  - 6y ago

actuator 6y ago

I recently read about one of the cities, New Delhi introducing benefits to increase EV adoption. The same report also mentioned an EV by some Indian manufacturer that seemed to have good specs on paper. So I am assuming there should be EVs in future from more of them as is happening in most parts of the world now.

puranjay 6y ago
I can't see EV adoption happening in Delhi anytime soon. There is absolutely no parking outside/inside houses here in most homes. There is no way to charge the car. My car is parked every night wherever I can find an empty spot.

ramshanker 6y ago

Currently YES. However all manufactures are full-throttle on R&D. Federal Income-Tax-Rebate already in. Few states (Ex: Delhi) already started rolling out incentives for EV purchases by reducing/removing the registration charges. And right at the top, 2 years back, federal Transport Minister announced right in front of all car manufacturers event, to which he was invited for keynote "I am not going to allow you to sell Petrol Cars after 2030". Obviously no governemnt can last that long, but still. Audience was like ...... aaaawwwwoooo, oh man, what do we do with all our current investment! Really gave the manufacture clear message to kick-start R&D NOW. And things have definitely started moving. My personal guess is at least 50% sales-market-share by 2025. Domestically manufactured EVs.

akgerber 6y ago

If they had bicycle infrastructure like China, cheap/lightweight ebikes/emopeds/escooters would be a very good option for cheap/clean/reliable urban transportation.