Electric Scooter vs Petrol Scooter : Huge benefits for India

By Kamlesh & Atul
There is a lot of misinformation in the mainstream media about the benefits of electric vehicles. In the blog/video, we bust many myths and we show how electric scooters offer huge social and societal benefits for India.

Video : ​Electric Scooter vs Petrol Scooter : Benefits for India

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Air Pollution

• An electric scooter runs on an electric motor which consumers power from a charged battery. It does not have a tail pipe. So there are no local emissions. Where as a petrol scooter emits a combination of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and particulate matter. The petrol scooter is not good for the air quality of our cities. An electric scooter is fantastic for the air quality of our cities.
• Many of you write to us about the long tailpipe of electric vehicles and coal is major source of electricity generated in India. But all of you have to understand this. Studies from independent scientists tell us that even if 100% of Electricity is generated from coal, EV’s emit 50% lesser carbon gases due to the efficiency of the electric motor.
• India’s Renewable energy mix is already at 38% and will increase in the coming decade. Your EV will get cleaner in time. 
• You can use solar energy to power your EV now and go zero emissions.
• A petrol scooter has no option to be powered by solar energy. Ultimately petrol scooters are unsustainable. Every 17 year old kid is getting a petrol scooter. And with millions of these being added to our roads, our cities are becoming gas chambers and this cannot continue.
• So pledge to go electric when you are in the market to buy a new scooter and save our cities from air pollution.

Noise Pollution

• This petrol scooter is very noisy. Just listen to sounds when we start one petrol scooter (watch video). It is terrible. When you start an electric scooter, you can listen to the wind and birds!
  As you saw just one petrol scooter has caused so much noise. And we have millions of them on our roads. If all of these scooters were electric, we will have quieter stress free roads.
  You have the responsibility to make our cities pleasant. Choose an electric scooter.

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Benefit for India

• A petrol scooter consumes petrol. Petrol or crude oil is imported from outside India. Over the life of 6-7 years, a single petrol scooter, consumes over 2500 liters of oil and we have millions of such scooters. All of this strains the India economy as we have to import billions of liters of oil each year. 
• ​An electric scooter uses a battery that consumes electricity. Electricity is made in India. The electricity used by this scooter is Made in India and electricity production can be scaled up at large levels. In other words India has control over the fuel and by not using petrol scooters, India won't need to import billions of liters of oil each year.
• We all know the batteries in these scooters are Lithium batteries. Many of you write to us about batteries and wonder if we switch to electric vehicles, if India will become dependent on imported Lithium just like how we are dependent on oil. The answer is NO - not on the same scale as oil. The PluginIndia team has used EV's for 10+ years, we never felt the need to visit a ‘Lithium Pump’ every week to fill up on Lithium!
  • Consider this, the battery in PURE EV eTrance Neo has capacity of 2.5 kWh. This battery contains a few 600 grams of lithium and remember this battery will last you for 5-7 years and still it will have a second life and can be used in energy storage applications. 
  • Compare this to around 2500 liters of oil used by a petrol scooter. The dependency on oil is way more than Lithium will ever be. 
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• Also, India has infrastructure to recycle lithium batteries to produce lithium based materials and companies like PURE have tie-up with these companies for recycling of the batteries.
• Also note that there are many promising battery research projects that are going on like Al-Air batteries or Sodium-Ion batteries. So battery tech is evolving and your electric scooter will continue to keep evolving and getting better.
  
  
• Finally, are electric scooters made in India? The PURE EV eTrance Neo electric scooter has localization is 85% in terms of value and Localization is 60% by parts. Multiple companies are aiming to manufacture a 100% made in India electric scooter. The day is not far off. We have seen multiple companies like Mahindra Electric, Ather, Ola Electric, The e-Rickshaw industry who have already localized EV's over 90% by parts.
  • The electric vehicle industry is way ahead when it comes to Making in India compared to Pharma, Solar, Mobile Phones and consumer electronics which are heavily dependent on China. Also ICE scooters and motorcycles get engine transmission, alloys, plastics and electronics from China.
• So make the pledge to ensure your next scooter is electric and let's help India be independent.

Benefit for You

• Finally an electric scooter has a superior ride quality with silent vibration free ride and instant torque that makes them so much more fun to ride compared to petrol scooters. Petrol scooters have pathetic acceleration, the ride quality is abysmal with vibrations and noise.
• You can save huge money as shown in our money saver comparison article and video
• You can charge your EV's battery at home or work. You don't have to visit a smelly petrol pump :)
• You can't place a number on the joy and good vibes that will follow you when you use an EV!

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Final Words
Surprised again? 
Don't fall for the false propaganda. EV's offer societal benefits for all. Why not be the change?

Further Reading 
​Electric Scooter vs Petrol Scooter : Huge Money Savings