Govt allows EVs sales without batteries is the right decision? 

To promote the electric mobility in India, the Indian government has allowed the sales of electric vehicles in India without a battery which will bring down the cost of the electric vehicle as the battery is the most expensive (around 30-40% )component in an electric vehicle. The decision announced by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways will allow the companies to sell EVs without the batteries and the customer gets the option to select its battery pack as per their needs. But is it the right decision? let us know in detail about the EVs sales without batteries.

EVs sales without batteries

The leading two-wheelers manufactures such as Hero Electric, Ather Energy and Okinawa have praised the decision taken by the government. But the Mahindra Electric CEO and MD, Mahesh Babu seems to be in confusion, he said that “No country in the world allows registration of EV’s without battery. We will explain to the government that this notification has created confusion. Up to the sale of the vehicle, the OEM is responsible for the safety of the vehicle. A vehicle that is tested, manufactured and sold as an integrated vehicle and the OEM is responsible for the warranty. Either charging or swapping is post-sale charge replenishing methods. Both can exist in the current framework. This move has not been thought through and the industry has not been consulted.”

Govt of India announced sales & registrations of EVs without batteries

This initiative is good but it does have its own advantages and disadvantages, in terms of the economic point of view but in terms of safety it might go wrong. As the consumers will definitely look for batteries as per their requirements and budget-friendly. Some may have complete knowledge about it and some may don’t know anything. There are a lot of battery technologies and types that the customers may want to use in their EVs but that battery type and technology should suit their particular EV.

Time consumption for adoption 

According to Ather Energy, this move benefits the EV manufacture as they will be able to offer superior products to its customers at an affordable price but this initiative will take some time to make an impact, as people will find difficult to adopt this type of vehicle ownership. But however, it will boost the Indian EV industry in the long term.

Safety concerns

Mahindra Group, on the other hand, expressed their doubts that an EV maker is responsible for the safety of the vehicle but allowing retrofitting of batteries could jeopardise this.

When the batteries are purchased from different OEM, the warranty-related confusion will also arise. As the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in a letter said that vehicles without batteries can be sold and registered based on the type approval certificate issued by a ‘Test Agency’. But it has also said that there is no need to specify the make/type or any other details of the battery for the purpose of registration.

GST on EV & batteries 

Apart from that, if we look at this move, comparing it to GST, the GST on electric vehicles is 5% and batteries are 18%. The consumers may have to pay separate GST for battery and EV. But they have an advantage here is the batteries can be selected as per their convenience and requirements such as how much range they need. They can also select their batteries types such as lead-acid or lithium-ion battery as per their budget but more they invest, more they will be beneficial in the long run.

FAME Scheme Subsidies unclear 

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways didn’t consult with the Department of Heavy Industries which implements the FAME Scheme has made the EV manufacturers into distress for losing out on the subsidy as it didn’t clear the subsidies while implementing the new provisions. The FAME subsidy at present is based on the capacity of the battery in an EV.

Measures for battery recycling 

Measures should also be taken for the ownership of batteries. When the batteries life is used which steps should be taken to recycle the batteries again.

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