NITI Aayog seeks cut in electric vehicle battery cost

Hyderabad: The major hurdle for electric vehicle (EV) push is cost of battery, observed NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, while stressing the need for technological advancement in this segment.

He was speaking at a session during Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES-2017) here on Thursday. Kant said: “EVs are now costlier than normal vehicles. There is a need to find a technological breakthrough to bring down the cost of battery used in electric cars. However, despite this challenge, the number of EVs is increasing in the country. The total number of electric vehicles has reached one per cent of vehicular population.”

“I am a believer in shared and connected cars, not in driverless cars. The nature of jobs is changing, the future of work is changing. The future is in shared mobility,” the NITI Aayog CEO added.

Expressing hope that once cost of battery falls, Kant said the cost of electric car would be equivalent to that of an internal combustion car. So, the challenge lies in making a breakthrough in battery technology.”

According to him, other challenges include monopoly in car battery charging service. “To address this problem, inter-operable charging points can be set up,” Kant said.

Indian market is a huge opportunity to car makers as the per capita car ownership in the country is very low, compared to some of the developed countries.

Kant also pointed that India has the potential to generate enough electricity for electric vehicles as the country is aiming to move towards renewable energy such as solar power. He, however, said that India is not yet ready for driverless cars, and the current opportunity lies in vehicle sharing.