“We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children”, these were the words of Emerson, that stuck with me, since the very first time I learned of them. It means a great deal to the human civilization, to protect the very nature that gave birth to the human race. Towards that journey, the greatest technological advancement has been in energy storage and e-mobility. While it may seem a pointless endeavor when the electricity used by electric vehicles (EVs) is produced by burning fossil fuels, we have seen a gradual shift towards renewable and clean energy on a global scale in recent years. If this trend is to continue, we may see renewables to be the single largest energy source by the year 2030.
However, in
this regard, the subcontinent of India faces a rather unusual challenge. How
do we get a rather new, costly, and unusual method of mobility to nearly a
fourth of the human population within a decade? A population, which itself has
poor educational foundations and financial support. Regardless of these
challenges, the automobile manufacturers have taken up the herculean task to
bring e-mobility to the masses. Each mainstream manufacturer has an electric
vehicle in production and is rapidly modifying the global standards to meet the
daily needs of an Indian. We see a gradual increase in the number of EV sales,
a good 20% over the last year, however, these percentage figures can be
misleading as the total is barely 1% of the total sales volume.
It looks
like our approach towards EV sales has not been effective. It is my personal
opinion; I will try to support it with facts. Our markets have been trying
to sell EVs in metropolises, and tier 2 urban regions at most, while they
ignore the parts where 50% of our population lives. We will look into 3
reasons, why the green mobility manufacturers and the government must shift their focus to the rural countryside.
High
cost of operating ICEs
Each
internal combustion engine requires petrol, a substance that is only available
in select locations, or fuel stations. While considering the cost of operating
a machinery/vehicle working with ICE, one must consider the distance the
vehicle has to travel using its own fuel before it is usable at a location.
This is rather low in the urban areas, with any fuel station being within 3-4
km (about 2 mi) of any given location. The number increases for about 600,000
villages dotted across India, where one must travel several kilometers on a
national highway before filling up a barrel, bringing it back, and operating the
equipment.
EV, on the other hand, can be charged at home
with a steady supply of electricity, which reduces the dependency of a village
on a particular highway, while also reducing the operating costs in
agricultural applications. This raises the next question, how do you ensure
steady electric supply, in a country which has barely made 100% rural electrification,
without any assurance of at least 8 hours of electricity in a day?
A chance
to develop self-sustaining village models
Indian
villages are known to make use of biogas and other green alternatives to meet
their energy demands. Focusing on these villages and helping them in becoming
self-sustainable in energy requirements can hugely improve the way the
agricultural sector operates. It may require a large capital investment, but
making a settlement independent of the national grid can greatly relax our need
to build more power stations. The solution to producing green electricity is
right there - biogas, solar and even making use of local water bodies.
It will not
be a highly intrusive process, unlike in metros where it may require
significant changes to the environment. We must also take into consideration,
the infrastructure costs, as land acquisition is the single largest part of the
total capital investment.
Where do
I park, where do I charge?
Here, we
come to the biggest problem in our overcrowded metros. Where do I park my
vehicle? A lot of urban settlements in Indian metros do not have adequate
parking space. Mostly, people rely on street parking, as land ownership is
difficult. That raises the bigger question, if I cannot park it at a known
location, how do I charge my EV every night, ready for the next day? This is a
major reason why the growth in EV sales is doomed to be stymied. Such an
arrangement may not be a major issue in rural settlements, as land ownership
significantly increases there thanks to the lower cost of acquisition and
inheritance, especially among the economical class that can afford the EVs.
As a cherry
on top of the cake, EVs require less maintenance as they have fewer moving
parts. We can start with simple heavy use vehicles, such as electric mopeds,
commercial EVs, and later move on to heavy agricultural machinery, such as tillers,
harvesters, and others. "Electric" also means easier automation. This can be a reinforcement
to rural-agricultural entrepreneurship, bringing the latest in science and
creating an environment of innovation where the younger generation actually
wants to work, but more on that later.
On the
surface level, it may seem a simple task, however, with a large number of villages
in India, this transition is going to require a large sales volume, and of
course, a government willing to act. It will require a great deal of support
and co-operation between the government and the industry, which must be allowed
to operate unhindered. Dr. B. R Ambedkar had once quoted in the Constituent
Assembly of India, “What is a village but a sink of localism, a den of
ignorance, narrow-mindedness, and communalism?”. Although I was shocked
reading that remark, I had to agree with that statement. Yet, a part of me
wanted to change that fact, to see the roots of our society, being the model of
our progress.
Wow!
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