Let's take a look at the electric vehicle stories that are trending in February 2020. Amit and Raphae speak about demystifying availability of Lithium, they mention the serious and not so serious EV showcases at the Auto Expo. We examine the Ather 450X pricing controversy and look at the twitter happenings.
Finally we also look at some community contributors in the EV world!
Finally we also look at some community contributors in the EV world!
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Amit: So Raphae, when it comes to electric vehicle batteries. People keep asking us about Lithium and its availability!
"Where is the Lithium!" "India does not have Lithium" "We will be dependent on China just like we are dependent on OPEC countries" and so on. Raphae: Well, Amit - I drive an electric car and I don't go to a Lithium Pump to fill Lithium in my battery every day! Compare that to people using pollution cars and scooters. They need to visit an oil pump and fill in oil every day. There is no comparison - the world is using huge amounts of oil for transport and the lithium usage will only be a fraction of the oil consumed, if all our vehicles went electric today. Amit: Let’s just say people who raise such questions either
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Watch Amit and Raphae on the PluginIndia Show podcast on Youtube
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Indian EV World News
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Amit: The first article is about the availability of Lithium and sustainable mining of Lithium for EV’s and consumer electronics. This is an interesting article that gives us numbers on this. Apparently, last year, the world mined 85000 tons of Lithium for use in consumer electronics and Electric Vehicles. The world’s usable reserves are around 14 million metric tons while proven reserves amount to some 62 million tons.
So there is a lot of Lithium out there, even if we continue to use Lithium-Ion batteries for the next 20 years, we are good. But in a couple of decades, I won't be surprised if there are batteries with other chemistries. Raphae: Yes, Amit. Also the article mentions how mining companies are choosing more sustainable ways of mining Lithium by avoiding evaporation of water and replenishing the ground water table, which is fantastic. And there is a lot of false information propagated by the fossil fuel industry and misguided zealots. They say that electric car batteries are more dangerous for the environment compared to extracting oil. This is absolutely false. Consider this - It takes around 6 kg of Lithium in a Tata Nexon EV which has a 30 kWh battery pack. It takes 500 grams of lithium in an Ather 450X electric scooter (200 grams per kWh) And do note that this is the total amount of Lithium that is used for the entire life of the battery - which would be 8-10 years in the vehicle + 5-6 years as storage device. Compare that to around 10,000 liters of oil being used by a pollution car in its lifetime of 8 years. Amit: Also remember, crude oil has to be refined into petrol/diesel. And refining consumes electricity which is generated majorly by fossil fuels. Transportation of oil also is energy intensive. The environmental & mining impact of oil is significantly larger compared to minerals used in batteries. |
Salar de Atacama, Chile
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Raphae: Exactly Amit, there is no comparison on how harmful using OIL is.
Amit: Not to mention that all minerals from a Lithium Ion battery can be recycled.
Raphae: Nothing can be recycled from burning oil. Nothing. You burn oil and it’s gone.
Amit: I have another fantastic news for you Raphae, Researchers at the Atomic Energy Commission have found lithium reserves of 14,100 tonnes in a patch of land surveyed in Mandya, 100 km from Bengaluru. "The present data provides a total estimation of available Li2O as about 30,300 tonnes over an area of 0.5 km x 5 km, which works out to about 14,100 tonnes of lithium metal," the report quoted N Munichandraiah, Emeritus Professor at the Indian Institute of Science and an expert on battery technologies."
Raphae: That is just fantastic! Just let's recap. The world mined 85000 tons last year for consumer electronics, EV’s and other applications of Lithium.
This 14000 tons of Lithium will last us decades for Indian use.
Amit: So, all of you, don’t give in to the false propaganda by these oil companies. Own an EV and enjoy the liberation from visiting petrol pumps!
Amit: Not to mention that all minerals from a Lithium Ion battery can be recycled.
Raphae: Nothing can be recycled from burning oil. Nothing. You burn oil and it’s gone.
Amit: I have another fantastic news for you Raphae, Researchers at the Atomic Energy Commission have found lithium reserves of 14,100 tonnes in a patch of land surveyed in Mandya, 100 km from Bengaluru. "The present data provides a total estimation of available Li2O as about 30,300 tonnes over an area of 0.5 km x 5 km, which works out to about 14,100 tonnes of lithium metal," the report quoted N Munichandraiah, Emeritus Professor at the Indian Institute of Science and an expert on battery technologies."
Raphae: That is just fantastic! Just let's recap. The world mined 85000 tons last year for consumer electronics, EV’s and other applications of Lithium.
This 14000 tons of Lithium will last us decades for Indian use.
Amit: So, all of you, don’t give in to the false propaganda by these oil companies. Own an EV and enjoy the liberation from visiting petrol pumps!
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Amit: "Raphae - So the Auto Expo 2020 just got over and this year! Now, we know the Auto Industry is notorious for showcasing EV’s in these expos, but the majority of the electric vehicles don’t ever get into production. What really matters to many of these companies is just publicity and PR and they get them in spades."
Raphae: That is exactly what we felt, when the PluginIndia team visited Auto Expos in 2016, 2018. This time we just decided not to waste our time and limited resources in these games played by these Auto companies regarding EV’s. Let other youtube channels do ‘walkabouts’, ‘first looks’ and such content! Amit: So Atulji sent us some photos of his visit at the Auto Expo and we documented some of his observations. The link to the photo blog is in the description below. So Raphae you went through the photo blog, tell us what caught your eye at the Auto Expo 2020? Raphae: I will tell you about the serious ones!
Amit: I will tell you about the funny ones!
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Auto Expo 2020 : Electric Vehicle Focus
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Raphae: Haha! Nice observations there! So many companies spend so much money getting EV’s to the expo from all parts of India or from around the world with no plans to launch them. We can excuse startups like Uniti etc, but established ICE manufacturers show EV’s to sell their ICE vehicles and that is sad part about all of this.
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Amit: So Kamlesh from our team has been following the Ather 450X electric scooter announcement and his podcast on their controversial pricing was really popular. And after reading the comments on his video. People are extremely disappointed and even angry by the increase in pricing and the subscription plans. Many people wanted to own an Ather Electric Scooter and now with this pricing it’s becoming very difficult! So Kamlesh wanted to see Ather’s side of the story and met the CEO of Ather, Mr Tarun Mehta at an open house in Pune. Apparently Ather had no choice but to increase the price of their electric scooters as they were selling the 450 on a loss. The link to the article is in the description for you guys to read.
Raphae, You rode the Ather 450 in Mumbai recently and what is your take on this pricing controversy. Raphae: Just recently I finally got a chance to actually ride the Ather 450. I know all the specs and have been following the company since the beginning and I just want to say that riding the scooter just blew me away. It was so smooth in ride mode and torky in sport mode, it had all the features I would want in a connected vehicle and there was so much attention paid to the small details too. India ?? needs more such companies. They are swimming upstream with the ICE competition being so heavy... And the community is expecting them to deliver a quality EV for a really low cost and fulfilling every conceivable scenario... It’s too tall an order to put one scooter out there which takes care of the entire spectrum; at the same time being good for those who just want to commute point A to point B in an economical manner and also good for those who want a high tech. sports scooter. I say we put our money where our mouth is. If we want the best scooter we should be willing to pay for it. Amit: The PluginIndia website also has been running a poll on Ather 450X’s pricing strategy and we have had more than 350 votes so far and we still have 10+ days to go this month. While many people have cancelled their booking and wont go for 450X, there are many people sitting on the fence. We hope once they test ride the 450X, and consider the total cost of ownership, they might consider going for the 450X. Raphae: The way people have responded to the poll clearly suggests they are unaware that the company is making a loss. Their expenses are not covered at the current sale price. Also, Tork and so many other startups are not able to deliver. We met the people behind the companies and they are clearly passionate and motivated to do something amazing... The fact that our masses are demanding more and more for less and less money shows that we are unaware of the true cost of innovation, good design, and fantastic engineering. Amit: I would recommend all of you guys to check out our power electric scooter page and look at the total cost of ownership of the Ather 450X compared to the Vespa Elegante petrol scooter and the TVS NTorq petrol scooter. Finally i just want to say that - The Ather electric scooter might be one of the best scooter experiences found in the world - and we have to be proud to say it's made in India. It's imperative that Ather remains in the market to keep raising the bar and keep pushing our ICE two wheeler manufacturers to launch even better electric two wheelers. That is how important Ather is, for the entire Indian EV industry as a whole. Keep going team, the EV community is proud of your efforts! |
Ather 450X Electric Scooter : Pune Open House
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Indian EV Twitter World
Hero aspires to have a 10% share of the global e-bicycle market
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Amit: This tweet is by Hero Lectro. For those of you who don't know, they are from the giant Hero cycle company who created a new brand Lectro that will sell e-Bikes. The tweet says: "By 2022, Hero aspires to have a 10% share of the global e-bicycle market. The lean supply chain, futuristic technology and cost Raphae: If you see the video, they are saying that they have localized manufacturing of battery packs, localized manufacturing of the controller and also make frames in India. With a large name like Hero investing in eBikes, this is only good for the e-Bike industry. Amit: They have recently launched an eBike with a Yamaha mid drive motor. So they have affordable eBikes, premium eBikes - a complete portfolio. They have made sales of 15000 eBikes apparently. We at PluginIndia really appreciate Hero Lectro’s push to encourage more people to cycle by making eBikes affordable. We wish them the best. |
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Niti Aayog the government think tank tweeted this about PureEV’s new electric scooter
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Amit: Niti Aayog the government think tank tweeted this about PureEV’s new electric scooter "#NITIAayog Member VK Saraswat, @DRDO_India Chairman @IITHyderabad Director BS Murthy launched high-speed electric scooter, EPluto 7G developed by @pureevindia, an @IITHyderabad - Incubated Startup at the IIT Hyderabad Campus." Raphae: We love PureEV! We have tested the ePluto7G extensively and we feel it’s a scooter that offers a great combination of value and performance. Amit: Also we are told by the company that the initial sales of the 7G is promising. We wish the team at PureEV, the best of luck! |
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Mr. Nitin Gadkari, Hon. Minister of Road Transport and Highways of India experienced NexonEV
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Amit: So Tata Motors Electric tweeted Mr. Nitin Gadkari, Hon. Minister of Road Transport and Highways of India experienced #NexonEV - The Electric SUV powered by #Ziptron at the #AutoExpo2020. Raphae: Yes, I remember his fiery speech when he told all the auto makers - ‘Make EV's or Get Bulldozed !”! Great to see our minister happy inside a Nexon EV! It’s his strong for EV speeches and vision that has driven the industry to take EV’s seriously! Amit: Hats off to Mr Nitin Gadkari and congratulations Tata Nexon team! |
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I have the Power : Send us your EV Photos
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Shreyas Gupta, Bengaluru
Ather 450 Owner finished 5000 km and has documented the issues and what he likes and dislikes on his Ather 450 |
Kamlesh Mundada, Nashik
He is owner of Revolt RV400 electric motorcycle and he shares this photo of him meeting an electric car owner in Nashik and its instant friendship! |
Karthic, Tirupur, TN
Test drove the Tata Nexon EV. The car is solid. I liked it very much. Only thing is i’m waiting to see the real world range. |
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Atul Gopal, Pune
Met with Chaitanya. 7th standard student of Dnyana Prabhodini. Uses a Felidae electric cycle to go to school. Same pinched him :-) |
Anonymous from Ahmedabad
Hero Electric released their electric motorcycle that looks very similar to one Hodomoto from China? :) |
Thank you for supporting PluginIndia by reading our content or watching at our Youtube channel!
Do support us at Patreon or become a member at YouTube!
Script : Kamlesh Mallick
Hosts : Raphae Halim and Amit Gupta
Direction : Farah Halim
Watch the podcast on Youtube!
Do support us at Patreon or become a member at YouTube!
Script : Kamlesh Mallick
Hosts : Raphae Halim and Amit Gupta
Direction : Farah Halim
Watch the podcast on Youtube!