Auto components maker Bosch said that the government needs to chart out a clear policy and work with everybody in the ecosystem as it pushes car makers to work towards electric vehicles by 2030.
The government wants to see all vehicles in the country ply on electricity rather than gasoline and diesel in an effort to reduce pollution but the path towards that goal is riddled with challenges which include the high cost of battery, setting up of charging stations, and steady supply of electricity across towns and cities.
“China is the No. 1 in the electric vehicle landscape now due to a clear road map that is pushed by the government. You have to develop the ecosystem with the right technology and incentives for development. India can do a little better,” Bosch chief technology officer and director Jan-Oliver Rohrl told TOI on Tuesday.
The CTO said a sustainable policy would help. “Looking at the budget last week, I could not find a line about electric vehicles where we could say this is being supportive for a market that is still in a nascent stage,” he said.
Bosch, however, will go ahead with the development of electric mobility technologies in India as it believes there will be a market requirement no matter what the policy is.
“We will not wait for the policies and that is why we built the Agile Project House in January. We cannot be fence sitters,” Rohrl said.
The Project House is working on prototype development and system integration to get electric vehicles and electro mobility solutions on the streets. The company believes this will increase its competence to provide customized technology for flexible, affordable and efficient urban mobility.
Given the current adoption of electric vehicles across the globe, the company estimates about 10% to 18% of total vehicles will run on electricity by 2030, unless some breakthrough technology is obtained to reduce the cost of batteries and other parts.
“For India, the numbers will be a little less but will be significant considering the adoption is zero now,” Bosch India managing director Soumitra Bhattacharya said.
Bhattacharya said hybrid electric vehicles would bridge the gap between the current internal combustion engines and the electric ones of the future. “Hybrid is an important prospect for India, it has been proved in the world and this country will be no exception,” he said.
