Janet Mason 
For Bengaluru-based Shubham Jain, 23, switching to an electric vehicle (EV) from a petrol car with an internal combustion (IC) engine (found in nearly all cars, buses, and bikes) has brought down the price of each day’s travel extensively. The month-to-month commuting price for Jain, who drives about 50km every day, has come down from ₹7,000 (gasoline fee) to ₹1,500 (more energy invoice), kind of. “I spent loads on fuel earlier. An IC engine is undoubtedly more effective, but for travel within metropolitan limits, it does not have the edge over an EV,” said Jain.
The call for EVs is catching on, especially among people who take care of their surroundings. According to a document using Autocar India, a vehicle magazine, the sale of four-wheeler EVs rose to 3,600 in FY19 from 1,2 hundred in FY18, and the sale of two-wheeler EVs spiked to 126,000 in FY19 from 54,800 in FY18. The authorities gave it a push in Budget 2019 by offering some incentives in keeping with the trend. The government has reduced the goods and services tax (GST) on EVs from 12% to 5%.
It has also announced an extra tax deduction of ₹1—five lakh under Section 80EEB of the Income-tax Act on interest paid on loans taken for purchasing EVs. If you claim the whole deduction of ₹1.5 lakh in keeping with the year for a tenure of 5 years, you’ll keep around ₹2.34 lakh ( ₹forty,800 per year) if you’re in the highest tax bracket of 31.2%. The budget has also made an allocation of ₹1,000 crores for putting in place EV charging stations.
But are you ready to buy an EV yet? If you are two in mind about its price and feasibility, we’ve got to give you protection. Read on. Arvind Sivasundar, 43, has been using an EV for eight years now. His first EV was the Reva, which he offered for ₹five lakh. About three years ago, he upgraded to a Mahindra e2o, which cost him ₹7 lakh. “I made a repeat buy because I became glad about the performance and convenience of a small electric automobile,” stated Sivasundar, a Chennai-based physician whose car runs on solar power. “Fossil fuels are going to expire eventually. Why wait till that takes place to transport to a greater realistic option? I installed a three-kilowatt (kW) solar plant at my domestic three years ago; so essentially, my automobile runs on daylight,” he stated.
The low price of renovation and charging is what attracted Jain and Sivasundar to an EV. Jain managed to cut his everyday trip fee extensively and store the maintenance price that he used to spend on his petrol automobile. “If the automobile is driven well, then you may require no extra funding,” said Jain. Sivasundar stated it takes approximately eight devices of strength to fully charge his EV’s battery. Because there are fewer components inside the car than in an IC engine, put-on-and-tear is minimal. EVs generally require a trade-in battery after five to 6 years, which charges upwards of ₹1.5-2 lakh.
According to Gaurav Vangaal, senior analyst, car manufacturing forecasting, IHS Markit, a worldwide data provider, some states offer incentives to EV shoppers. All-electric cars are exempted from payment of taxes to the authorities of Karnataka, at the same time as Delhi has waived off-road tax and registration expenses. For this reason, Sivasundar bought his EV from Bengaluru. “Karnataka offers a subsidy of approximately ₹1 lakh. But entry tax to this country plus price of re-registration and cost of transporting the auto from Bengaluru to Chennai got here to almost ₹80,000,” he said.
Though select insurers cover EVs, the charges are cheaper for them. “In the revised 0.33-party ratings (launched by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India), for an EV greater than sixty-five kW, the top rate is ₹6,707, while for an IC engine above 1,500cc, the price is ₹7,809,” said Abhishek Bondia, major officer and handling director, SecureNow.I am a coverage aggregator.
What doesn’t
But all is no longer hunky-dory when it comes to shopping for EVs. One of the largest downsides of an EV is the reality that you can not travel between locations that are more than 100 km away. Jain started his EV calls to be charged for 4 to 5 hours for distances as much as 100km, and there aren’t many charging stations available in Bengaluru besides a few department shops. “Another trouble is that the mileage drops to around 60km in case you select to turn off the air conditioner and lighting,” said Jain. Sivasundar too refrains from taking his EV outside the city because his car doesn’t go past 90km at a complete rate, and it’s tough to rely on the few service stations available in Chennai. He keeps a 2nd car with an IC engine and runs on petrol, ordinarily for outstation tours or emergencies.
