Buying an electric car or electric vehicle in India
TL;DR is that in Bengaluru and rest of India it is not yet a good practical idea to buy an electric car without ensuring that a personal charger can be installed at home.
Dr. Katharine Hayhoe aptly speaks my mind here.
And most people don't have the resources or money to do what you do, because the system is skewed in the direction of maintaining our dependence on fossil fuels.
This is the case for electric cars or electric vehicles (EV), in India, at present. Though it may not be apple to apple comparison, from the same manufacturer, today an entry level
crossover electric vehicle is costing approximately 50-60 percent more than a
corresponding petrol vehicle with manual transmission.
The next interesting aspect is the operation and maintenance cost. According to a study done here, the following conclusions are interesting considering an annual running of 18000 kilometres per year.
One will have to drive the EV for over 7.5 years to break even over the petrol, and almost 7 years over the diesel. What’s also worth mentioning here is that the EV’s battery has a warranty of 8 years, and could be expensive to replace.
Another study shows that the total ownership cost of a petrol vehicle, in India for first five years with a driving distance of 10,000 km per year, is approximately 30-35 percent less than an equivalent electric vehicle. The equations will change if cost of fuel continues to increase annually at a significant rate.
With respect to carbon emissions, when considering the whole life cycle, from manufacture to scrapping (and, hopefully, recycling), the following facts emerges according to an article titled "Do electric cars really produce fewer carbon emissions than petrol or diesel vehicles?"
Lucien Mathieu, T&E’s cars director, said that even if you choose a worst-case scenario – vehicles made and driven with electricity largely from coal – the electric car will win out after about 70,000km (about six years of driving). “The more you drive an electric car, the better it gets,” he said.
The above is largely the scenario for India till now. As per
an article, dated December 19 2023India relies on coal for about 70% of its power generation and aims to add 17 gigawatts of coal-based power generation capacity in the next 16 months.
I accept that the economic sustainability of a petrol and electric car (electric vehicle), in India and other countries, will be determined by criteria such as usage frequency, trip distance, charging infrastructure availability. Full charging of an entry level electric vehicle takes takes around 8.5 to nine hours to fully recharge the battery. Unlike fuel stations, charging infrastructure is limited, even in a city like Bengaluru, India. Many apartment associations do not permit private charging station in the pillar adjacent to the corresponding car parking space.
For electric cars, I initially felt that I can manage with publicly available battery chargers in Bengaluru. After visiting the battery charging stations and talking to several owners and potential buyers of of electric cars, I realized that the idea is not practical.
Also, with respect to usage of limited battery charging stations in Bengaluru, there is competition from large number of electric scooters which are quite popular in Bengaluru.
Car ownership may be costly, and the initial cost of ownership isn't the only thing that can break the bank. The many recurring expenses that come with owning a car can quickly mount up and have a big impact on one's spending plan. And purchasing an entry-level electric vehicle requires even more financial resources and supported infrastructure. And some of us, who can barely manage to buy an entry level petrol vehicle, in India, will not be able to afford an electric vehicle as of now.
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Je me souviens 
Greg Cocks 
