Clean power from solar to charge EVs in India: Amitabh Kant

Electro-mobility as a medium of transport in the future in India is gathering pace. At a Ford Motor Co-organised ‘City of Tomorrow’ symposium, held in New Delhi yesterday, while speaking in a panel discussion on ‘Smarter Cities of the Future, Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, voiced his opinion on EVs being a smart mobility solution for the India of the future, which will dramatically shift its power production to solar energy. 

Kant said, "India will generate 175 GW of solar power, the challenge is linking the mobility revolution with carbon-free power."

The automobile sector the world over, and more recently in India, is undergoing a highly dynamic phase where government heads and captains of industry are debating and brainstorming about developing mobility solutions for the future. While conventional internal combustion engines are forecast to see a sharp decline in the coming decade, the question arises as to what is going to be the mainstream replacement technology.

While the NITI Aayog report, co-produced with US consultancy firm Rocky Mountain Institute and titled ‘Transformative Mobility Solutions for India’, released in May 2017, focussed on EVs to take the baton forward into the coming future, Amitabh Kant said, “Even though mobility solutions for the future should be technology agnostic, electric mobility still holds a strong case for itself in India, which is set to adopt clean solar power in a big way.”

“India has committed in the Paris Accord to radically move towards solar power in the coming years and aims to generate 175GW, the world’s largest capacity of clean power through the sun. This instantly makes EV technology extremely relevant for the country, and will enable us to charge our EVs through clean power”, he added.

2030 – A tipping point
“By 2025, EV prices will start to give a tough fight to the present day prices of IC-engined vehicles; and by 2030, battery prices will fall drastically from currently being pegged at $273 to $73, which will then be a tipping point for electric technology and will bring about a tectonic shift in the type of vehicles which go on sale. And by 2040, sale of EVs will outrun conventional vehicles,” said Kant.

Citing the speedy adoption of ‘Metro’ trains in the smart Indian cities of the future, Kant said, “Metro revolution and high-speed trains are set to transform the state of public transport across the country in the coming future.”