A strong step taken by the government to control air pollution due to vehicular emissions is to shift from fuel-oriented vehicles to Electric vehicles. This is the major step taken by the government and it is one of the major topics discussed nowadays. This topic is important from the exam point of view and students must prepare for this topic in every possible way.
Electric Vehicle: An Introduction
An EV is a vehicle that runs partially or completely on electricity. Some electric vehicles used lead-acid or nickel-metal hydride batteries, but today lithium-ion batteries are considered the standard for modern battery-powered electric vehicles.
Types of EVs
There are four types of electric cars:
1. Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV): These are fully electrified. They are more efficient than hybrids and plug-in hybrids.
2. Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV): HEVs have both an internal combustion engine and an electric motor. The engine gets energy from the fuel and the engine gets power from the battery. The gearbox is rotated simultaneously by the internal combustion engine and the electric motor. This drives the wheels.
3. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs): use both an internal combustion engine and a battery that charges from an external outlet (with a plug). In this way, the vehicle battery can be charged instead of the engine. PHEV is more efficient than HEV but less efficient than BEV.
4. Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEV): FCEVs are also known as zero-emission vehicles. It uses fuel cell technology to generate the power the vehicle needs to run. The chemical energy of the fuel is converted directly into electrical energy. For example, hydrogen FCEV.
Why there is a need for EVs?
1. Climate change concerns: Growing concerns about climate change are driving global efforts to electrify the transport sector.
2. Cost Reductions: In parallel, the cost of lithium-ion (lithium-ion) battery technology has fallen surprisingly significantly over the past decade.
3. Government push: Governments providing incentives to initiate the transition to electric mobility to position themselves as leading companies in the global market.
4. Private investment: A global race is emerging as automakers, battery makers, and materials suppliers vie for market share. Market forces are thus also actively pushing the shift of the mobility sector from petrol/diesel to electric.
Advantages of using EVs
1. Energy Efficiency: Electric vehicles convert more than 60% of the electrical energy from the grid into electricity at their wheels (gasoline and diesel vehicles only convert 17% to 21% of the energy stored in their fuel at their wheels). increase).
2. Low maintenance costs: Electric vehicles have very low maintenance costs because they do not have as many moving parts as internal combustion engine vehicles.
3. Eco-friendly: Driving an electric car reduces your carbon footprint as there are no emissions. Even taking into account the amount of electricity generated, a petrol or diesel car emits almost three times more carbon dioxide than the average electric car. You can reduce your environmental impact by choosing renewable energy options for battery charging To mitigate the impact of EV charging, India aims to source around 40% of its total installed electricity from non-fossil sources by 2030.
4. Taxes and economic benefits: Registration fees and road taxes when buying an electric car are lower than when buying a petrol or diesel car. Depending on the state you live in, there are some policies and incentives offered by the government.
5. Easy to Use: Electric vehicles do not have a transmission, which is very convenient to drive. EVs are quiet because there is no motor under the hood. No engine means no noise.
6. Declining reliance on energy: Electricity is a domestic source of energy, and the country’s reliance on oil imports has decreased significantly.
Major Concerns:
- EVs can finally solve the problem of exhaust emissions, but they do not address all the damage done to the environment during manufacturing.
- As EVs gain momentum, advances in battery production and research will boost sales. This means that material emissions will increase from their current 18% to more than 60% by 2040.
- Decarbonization of vehicles during production is more difficult than during use. Currently, electric vehicle battery packs are heavy, increasing the overall weight of the vehicle and increasing the energy required to drive it. To combat this, automakers are adopting aluminum to reduce the weight of their bodies, with electric cars using 45% more of his aluminum than conventional cars. Aluminum emissions started to rise because mining and production are energy intensive.
- Concerns about the disposal of used & broken batteries are conveniently palmed off on poor, vulnerable countries – such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, which produces 60% of the world`s Cobalt – that lack the legislation to deal with them.
- Shortage of raw material for home Production: Battery is the most important part of Electric Vehicles. The country doesn’t have any popular reserves of lithium and cobalt which are the raw materials of EV batteries.
- Dependence on other countries for the import of lithium-ion batteries is an obstacle to becoming completely self-reliant in the battery manufacturing sector.
- Weak Manufacturing base: It is estimated that by 2020-30 India`s cumulative demand for batteries would be approximately 900-1100 GWh. However, there is concern over the weak manufacturing base for batteries in India, leading to heavy reliance on imports to meet rising demand.