These days, urban air pollution and increasing carbon are the courses for cities in India. One of the key sources of urban air pollution is vehicular emission.
In this context, the government is taking great initiatives; they are bringing new regulations, policies, frameworks, and audacious goals to address environmental concerns.
These days, Electric Vehicles have emerged as a solution to tackle these problems. But there is much confusion about it.
Can Electric Vehicles (EVs) be supportive in combating pollution? Have we analyzed properly to understand the long-term impact of EVs in our country? Should we switch to EVs to tackle the current environmental problems? How affordable it is going to be. What is the difference in life cycle emission in electric vehicles and normal vehicles?
We have various strong reasons to make the switch and it is happening faster than we may think. Different countries like France, England, Norway, and the Netherlands are switching to EVs
The switch to EVs is expected to reduce carbon emissions by 37% by 2030. This shifting should be implemented on all types of vehicles plying on Indian roads.
Apart from the carbon emissions, diesel and petrol are dangerous due to the fact it spews dangerous air pollutants. EVs have zero tailpipe emissions as compared to cars using fossil fuel, which releases harmful air pollutants like carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, and particulate matter.
As per the report of WHO, 13 of the top 20 global cities with the highest air pollution are in our country. With EVs in cities, the situation will improve. With cleaner grid energy EVs seem to be the perfect solution for the urban environment.
EVs make less sound than their petrol or diesel counterparts. The switch to EVs would decrease noise pollution on a certain level.
EVs have a lower center of gravity than conventional vehicles. It makes these vehicles more stable and less likely to roll over. Also, because they do not contain flammable fuel there is a lower risk of fire or explosion.
India's oil import bill has been increasing and is pegged at Rs4.7 lakh crore in 2016-17, 3% of GDP. Present-day, India imports about 80% of its crude oil from different countries; it makes the country hugely dependent on global supplies and vulnerable to global shocks.
In the ranking, India is the world's third-largest oil importer and vehicles contribute one-third of its oil demand. With the switch, electric vehicles would save the government $60 billion in imports by 2030.
Electric cars are also a good option in terms of cost. It needs less expense for running and maintenance. The cost of electricity to charge and run an electric car is less than 25% of the cost of driving a petrol car for the same distance.
Additionally, the maintenance cost of electric vehicles is low. The reason being there are fewer moving parts in EVs than in a petrol or diesel vehicle. The only substantial cost is that of replacing batteries, after 8 to 12 years of running.
