Planning for an EV? Here is why you should get one.

EVs (Electric Vehicles) have been on sale in India for over a decade. The 1st EV which was made available to the public was the Reva (G wiz), REVAi followed by Reva e2o, e2o plus, e-Verito from Mahindra, and later joined by TATA with Tigor EV and Tiago EV. All of which had one thing in common: A range of just about 80-100Kms and no sophisticated technology. Turn on the AC and boom! in no time you will be hunting for charging stations. Speed up a bit to keep up with traffic and you will find yourself accompanied by range anxiety.

TATA, Mahindra, and many more automobile companies worked on this criticism from the customers, invested in R&Ds. Following which, in the year 2019 TATA motors launched their 1st electric SUV Nexon along-side Hyundai with Kona EV and MG ZS EV. All these vehicles with a range of over 300kms will assure you that you don't suffer from the dreaded, range anxiety. Soon Mahindra will be bringing in their e-XUV300 and many more from various automakers.

Electric vehicles are more reliable than their IC counterparts. They can outperform traditional gasoline-powered cars on many aspects, be it instant delivery of torque to their capacity to move around in water clogged areas, thanks to the absence of tailpipes. No these vehicles will not electrocute you as they all carry IP certifications. Additionally, these cars carry warranty offers for anything that goes wrong, the company replaces them for you. The batteries and the motors are tested for 10 lakh Kms by some manufacturers.

Talking about charging infrastructure these vehicles come equipped with DC fast charge and to charge them up, a plethora of companies have come together to set up their fast chargers in various parts of the country, finding ways to reduce the charging time.

Delhi is getting 300 type-1 and type-2 Electric Vehicle public charging stations by 2021 of which 55 are functional already with 15 and 25 kW output.

In Mumbai alone, there exist 23 electric vehicle charging points listed on TATA’s website. These charging points can be accessed by anyone having any electric vehicle. It is expected to have more charging stations available to the public soon enough.

In Karnataka, BESCOM has set up a plan for 678 EV charging stations out of which 80 are already in place of which 12 are fast-chargers.

In Gujarat, HPCL has set up an electric vehicle charging station at a regular petrol pump. Similarly, we have many such facilities to charge our vehicles. So yes, it will be wrong to say that we don't have any infrastructure for electrics yet.

Why do you need an EV? Well, to answer that in short, it is economical for your wallet. Now let me explain why.

• Electric vehicles attract government subsidies of up to 2.5 lakhs on the vehicles. Apart from this, electric vehicles are exempted from paying road tax. You are already saving a huge chunk of money. That saving is just to take the car out of the showroom.

• Being an electric vehicle you can charge these cars at your home overnight just like you charge your mobile after using it the whole day. Yet you will be shelling out less than Rs 300/- (for a 0-100% battery charge) on your current electric bill cutting down your fuel expense by a huge margin. Making these electric's running cost to be less than Rs 1/- (That is way cheaper than Mangalyaan). And yes, that includes your service cost.

• Electric vehicles don't necessarily require service because they don't have an engine and hence no moving parts. You just pay for brake pads and a few fluids every year and a half which costs as much as taking your school kid to a McDonlad's Happy Meal treat.

• No tailpipe emissions translating to saving the environment to some extent. You are contributing to the green earth. Reduction of CO2 and Sulphur in the atmosphere to some extent. Mother earth says thanks.

• Put your foot down and you are at peak torque. EV's are silent but surely not boring. I dare say it resembles the calm before the storm.

• Drive with a single pedal. With regenerative braking in place and some manufacturers providing technology to vary the brake intensity you can drive the EV with just the throttle pedal. Get off the pedal and you are charging batteries.

• Silent. No, you aren't isolated from the outer world, it's just that you don't hear an engine humming.

• Hot day? Bring out your smartphone and remotely cool the cabin. That's a party trick you can save for later.

Many companies have decided to set up fast chargers along the highways with relaxation zones so that your EV's can accompany you for those long highway trips. Electric vehicles have come a long way and will go a long way. With developments like Graphene induced Lithium-ion batteries, soon the batteries' costs will come down drastically. Electric mobility is the future and the future is NOW! Let's use sustainable energy for a sustainable future.