Mr. Vikas’s father started Computech Systems Pvt Ltd in Delhi almost 3 decades back. He joined his father’s business as an adolescent, where they initially sold computers and lead acid batteries. After completing his graduation, he actively involved himself within the closed corporation where his father offered him entire education which he needed to run the business. Around the age of 20, he began to help within the business. He started from the fundamentals by learning about all the batteries, cells, etc. He started from scratch, which helped him learn and understand everything thorough. He coordinated with the company’s manufacturing workforce at the age of 22, which helped him understand the importance of team ideas for mutual growth and learning within the business world.
The much-anticipated electric revolution has landed in India and is definitely here to stay and grow in the years to come. After initial uncertainties, Indian’s are now warming up to the idea of owning an electric vehicle which is evident from the sales growth numbers for EV two wheelers going up in the last year alone. With petrol prices on a sky high and attitude towards adoption of electric vehicles has grown multi-fold, the sales of these vehicles too has shot up which is only a testament to more and more EV scooter companies coming in the market.
With the ongoing, world dynamics, a shift to EV has become a necessity than an experiment. The Indian 2-wheeler EV market has grown five times since 2020 but even the 3-wheeler, commercial and passenger vehicle are also seeing a remarkable shift. The 2-wheeler has emerged as an undisputed leader in EV industry in India with almost half the EV’s in India being 2-wheelers. This growth trajectory makes the growing industry a promising one in the country.
Having said that, the Indian EV industry especially the 2-wheelers segment is fraught with its own set of challenges. The challenges they face are-
- The issue of affordability is a prime concern for the Indian customer instead of smart features laden in the vehicle.
- Battery cost of EV 2 wheelers is a pressing issue for both the buyer and manufacturer as major component of battery manufacturing is still imported which makes the overall cost of manufacturing battery, even in India, expensive.
- The beta version of vehicles is not usually an ideal choice for most customers as both the technology used and the company making it are new to the market and its nearly difficult for any first-time automobile product to come out perfect and when chosen by buyers, they may face a lot of challenges with the product.
- Poor infrastructure, which not only includes lack of charging stations but also the lack of proper charging being set up at home.
- Lack of knowledge on the part of the customer on how an EV operates and how it is different from other conventional vehicle being used.
- Lack of standardization as every EV company has its own charging port which is different from others which also causes a major hurdle in setting up proper charging ecosystem throughout the country.
- Temperature can affect the performance of an EV battery to a large extent which makes the EV inappropriate for too cold temperatures or too hot temperatures. The battery can give its ideal performance when its under the temperature range 15-40 degrees.
- Limited skill awareness around EV is another major hurdle that the customer faces as the post sales and service staff for EV needs proper training to handle issues of EV which also comes with a certain skill set.
- The electricity demand will increase at the national level. There will be an increment in electricity demand when everyone is using EV which solely use electricity for charging. This demand can only be addressed when the country also moves and becomes more reliant of renewable energy to generate electricity, this infrastructure will also enable clean energy initiative.
- Servicing an EV and its spare parts are more costly when need to be replaced as its manufacturing infrastructure is still at a very nascent stage in India.
Adoption is EV in the near future is inevitable but opting for EV need to be done smartly by involving more research and development, skill advancement and training programmes, customer training and knowledge about the product and infrastructure for all kinds of raw materials to be made available within the country to make a smooth and affordable transition to EV.