Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

Beijing, September 5 (Xinhua) in China, the United States and other countries, luxury car buyers are snapping up Tesla and other electric cars that sell for more than $60,000 (about 400000 yuan). Even relatively cheap models sell for more than $25,000 (about 170000 yuan).

Electric cars in India

But in India, these cars are beyond the reach of most families because their median income is only $2400 (17000 yuan). Despite this, the electric car movement in India is still under way, but not on four wheels, but on two and three wheels.

In India, electric mopeds and three-wheeled taxis are speeding along crowded urban roads for as little as $1000 (6900 yuan). Such vehicles are supported by environmentalists and the government. India's haze is too serious to bear. They think this is a way to eliminate some of the haze. At the same time, India's success in the development of low-cost electric cars also provides a template for developing countries: they can also abandon internal combustion engines to deal with climate change without expensive electric cars.

Take Curtip Singh (Kuldeep Singh), who drives a sky-blue Biaggio electric tricycle. Twice a day, he goes to a power station near New Delhi to replace depleted lithium-ion batteries with fully charged batteries.

Singh drives an electric tricycle.

"the best thing is that there is no pollution." Singh said. He pays about half as much for a new battery as a traditional tricycle. "I'm proud of it. India will be stronger."

Electric vehicles account for less than 5 per cent Indian carmakers sold 430000 electric vehicles in the 12 months to March, more than triple the number in the same period last year. Most of them are two-wheeled and tricycles, with only 18000 electric vehicles, or 4 per cent, according to industry data. By contrast, Americans bought about 487000 new electric vehicles in 2021, an increase of 90 per cent from 2020, according to Kelley Blue Book, a car research firm.

"the failure of the Modi government's' made in India 'strategy has increased India's dependence on imports, especially on China," said R. Nagaraj, a visiting professor at the Development Research Centre in the southern Indian state of Kerala. "the slogan motivates the country very well, but you can't just stop at that."

India's attitude towards electric cars seems to reflect the lessons learned from these mistakes. Instead of providing small subsidies to dozens of industries as before, the government has channelled money to several key areas to help Indian companies build an electric car ecosystem.

No more Tesla? Mr Modi also seems to have abandoned efforts to get Tesla to build a factory in India. Tesla CEO Elon Musk (Elon Musk) has said that he will build a factory in India only if India reduces tariffs on imported cars, so that he can first set up a market for Tesla by importing cars from Shanghai.

However, the Indian government was also tough, rejecting Tesla's request for a tax cut. Gadkari, India's minister of road traffic and transport, said Tesla could not sell Tesla made in China if he wanted to enter the Indian market. In addition, he also stressed that Tesla should be manufactured locally in India, not only to the Indian market, but also to other global markets.

Analysts said it was wise for Mr Modi to stop chasing Tesla. Tesla's cheapest car costs about $40, 000, but most cars in India sell for less than $10, 000.

Auto industry executives say the reason the country lags behind in the popularity of electric cars is that batteries are too expensive. "it doesn't work economically." R.C., chairman of Maruti Suzuki, India's largest carmaker. Bhargava (R.C. Bhargava) said.

Core competencies: cheap about 15 years ago, Indian craftsmen and small businesses began importing electric motors and lead-acid batteries from China to assemble cheap electric cars. With little regulation, the electric car has become popular, causing safety and other problems. But they also create room for startups and established carmakers that want to build more durable products.

Now, the Indian government and the auto industry are betting heavily on low-cost electric cars. Competition and subsidies make electric mopeds and three-wheeled taxis as cheap as internal combustion engines, or even cheaper than internal combustion locomotives. For just a few hundred dollars, some startups can convert internal combustion engines into battery-powered models. At the same time, the recent surge in oil and gas prices has greatly increased the cost of internal combustion engine models.

"there are many parts of the world that don't buy $60,000 cars," says Bhavish Aggarwal, 37, founder and chairman of Ola Electric, an Indian electric two-wheeler that makes electric mopeds at a factory in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. "there is a big difference in the technology used in hotter, more dusty climates or more potholed roads. India is like a very good microcosm of the rest of the world. If we can develop this model here, it will also have good reference value for other regions. "

Indian female workers are making electric cars.

For India, it is of economic and environmental significance to start with small cars. Most of the country's transport fuel is used by two-wheelers and tricycles, and car ownership is incredibly low: India has only 22 cars per 1000 people, compared with 980 cars per 1000 people in the United States.

China is a leader in small electric cars. The Wuling Hongguang Mini sold by a joint venture between General Motors, SAIC and Wuling sells for $4500. It has a top speed of about 60 miles per hour and a range of 100 miles, making it ideal for driving in cities.

For taxi drivers like Singh, the main attraction of electric cars is that they can save more money on gas, so they can bring more fares home.

"it provides a livelihood for our customers," says Suman Mishra, CEO of Mahindra Electric, a maker of electric tricycles and other electric cars. "so it has a huge social impact."

Electric cars are the livelihood of many people.

Manufacturers say their biggest problem is keeping up with demand. Ola built a factory in a vast expanse of palm trees in Pochampalli, a small town near Bangalore. The factory employs about 2000 people, all of whom are women. In India, few women work in manufacturing, and the company wants to prove that they can. With the help of robots, the women test battery packs, produce battery packs, assemble mopeds that start at about $1200, and then ship them directly to customers.

India is proving that there is a huge market for even cheaper electric cars. But it is unclear whether India can expand production to transform its transport system and help bring cheap electricity to other developing countries. Raw materials for making batteries are in short supply worldwide, forcing Indian carmakers to compete with larger companies such as Tesla and General Motors.

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