Electric Vehicles and Related Tech
Road Electric Vehicles (EVs) include a large range of vehicles from electric two – wheelers, three – wheelers (rickshaws), cars and electric buses.
In addition, plug – in electric vehicles can be classified into two types: battery electric vehicles (BEVs), and plug – in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). BEVs have an electric motor in place of combustion engine and use electricity from the grid stored in batteries. Plug – in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) use batteries to power an electric motor and liquid fuel such as gasoline or diesel to power an internal combustion engine or other propulsion source.
EVs can go beyond the above mentioned technology based classification, and can be classified on the basis of their attributes such as charging time, driving range, and the maximum load it can carry. Of these attributes, the two most important characteristics of an electric vehicle of concern to the consumer are:
Driving range (i.e. the maximum distance an EV can run when fully charged)
Charging time of batteries (i.e. the time required to fully charge the battery) and Charging time depends on the input power characteristics (i.e. input voltage and current), battery type and battery capacity.
Battery in EV
The choice of batteries depends on the energy density, weight and costs. Electric cycles and low range mopeds have simple battery units while electric cars deploy a large number of batteries. Traditionally, most electric vehicles have used lead – acid batteries due to their mature technology, easy availability and low cost. However, since the 1990s battery technologies have evolved significantly and several new types of batteries have been developed. More recently, batteries using combinations of lithium ion and its variations are gaining widespread acceptance due to better efficiency, reduced weight, lower charging time, better power output, longer lifetime, and reduced environmental implications from battery disposal.
The following four types of batteries are commonly used today in EVs:
Lead Acid
Nickel Cadmium (NiCd)
Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH)
Lithium – ion (Li- ion) – Lithium – ion batt eries have higher specific energy relative to the other battery types. In the future, technology innovations with Li – ion and other battery technologies are expected to result in batteries with much higher specific energy and lower costs.
Battery Charging
In low power applications the power conditioning which includes the AC to DC conversion, the power control unit which delivers a variable DC voltage to the battery, and various filtering functions are all carried out within the charger and can be implemented at a relatively low cost. The Battery Management System (BMS) is tightly integrated with the battery. It monitors the key battery operating parameters of voltage, current and temperature and controls the charging rate to provide the required constant current / constant voltage (CC/CV) charging profile and it triggers the protection circuits if the battery’s operating limits are exceeded, isolating the battery if needed.
Ecosystem for Electric Vehicles
Market
Testing and certification
Vehicle Servicing
High capital cost and Financing
Electricity quality
Market for electricty storage
Consumer perceptions
Raw Materials for batteries
Technical
Efficiencies of batteries
Driving range of EVs
Charging time
Safety
Environmental Impacts
Policy
Taxation of vehicles and components
Subsidies on fossil fuels
Electricity tariff policies
Infrastructure
Charging infrastructure
Smart Grids
Battery recycling
Dedicated lanes for E – 2 Wheelers
Indian EV scenario
National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020
Target of deploying 5 to 7 million electric vehicles in the country by 2020
Emphasizes importance of government incentives and coordination between industry and academia
Target of 400,000 passenger battery electric cars (BEVs) by 2020 ~ avoiding 120 million barrels of oil and 4 million tons of CO2
Lowering of vehicular emissions by 1.3 percent by 2020
Total investment required – INR 20,000 – 23,000 cr (approx 3 billion USD)
e-Rikshaw
The Government of India announced the DeenDayal scheme in June 2014, which would help in the financing and procurement of the battery rickshaws in the country.
In March 2015 the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill was cleared establishing battery-powered e-rickshaws as a valid form of commercial transport
3 wheeled vehicles run by battery power of no more than 4,000 Watts
4 passengers, luggage of 50 kg and with a single trip under 25 kilometers
The number of battery operated e – rickshaws in Delhi has risen from 4,000 in 2010 to more than 1,00,000 in 2014, and is now an integral part of the transport eco-system in the state.
In January 2014, Tripura became the first state in India to regulate the functioning of the e-rickshaws, and they came up with the Tripura Battery Operated Rickshaw Rules 2014 for the purpose. Tripura Battery Operated Rickshaw Rules 2014 consists norms / guidelines such as driver age limits, license fee, renewal fee, Road Tax, provision for vehicle fitness certificate, insurance for e-rickshaw and identification of routes for operation of these vehicles.
FAME India scheme
The Department of Heavy Industry is administering the scheme “Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric and Hybrid Vehciles in India”, popularly known as FAME India scheme since 01st April 2015.
Under the scheme, subsidy is being given to 11 cities for launching electric buses, taxis and three-wheelers. The cities include Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Jaipur, Mumbai, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Indore and Kolkata, plus two cities – Jammu and Guwahati under special category. The nine big cities in the list will be given subsidy for 40 buses each while Jammu and Guwahati will get for 15 buses each. Subsidy for taxis will be given to Ahmedabad ( 20 taxis), Bangalore (100 taxis), Indore ( 50 taxis) and Kolkata (200 taxis) – based on their demand. Bangalore will get subsidy for 500 three wheelers, Indore for 200 and Ahmedabad for 20. This comes to a total of 390 buses, 370 taxis and 720 three wheelers.
Drivers for growth of electric vehicles in India
Thirteen out of 20 cities in the world with highest air pollution are in India It is envisaged that Low carbon scenario with ‘highest’ EV penetration shows 50 percent drop in PM 2.5 by 2035 (UNEP, DTU and IIM- A).
Master plans for most cities in India target 60 – 80 per cent public transport ridership by 2025 – 2030 (Center for Science and Environment)
With the Government of India targeting 100 GW of solar by 2022, electric vehicles can improve reliability and utilization of renewable by acting as storage
However, there needs to be proper planning with reference to monitoring and control of charging infrastructure as unplanned increase in penetration of EVs in an area can lead to increase in peak load of already stressed distribution network.
Large scale penetration of EVs will require both demand side incentives (e.g., tax incentives) and improved charging infrastructures as well as integrated planning for distribution Grid management.
EVs offer the opportunity to act as a distributed storage in the urban energy system which could help in better integration of intermittent renewables like wind and solar and can feed the grid at peak timings if price incentives are designed in terms of dynamic tariff as part of Smart Grid implementation.