Parliamentary committee recommends targeting self-sufficiency in li-ion batteries in India

A special parliamentary committee in India recommended that the nation target self-sufficiency in manufacturing li-ion batteries, since most of the country’s li-ion batteries are imported from China. Furthermore, other critical components that are necessary for an EV’s power electronics, such as transistors, diodes, capacitors, PCBs (printed circuit boards) etc. are also sourced mostly from Taiwan, China and South Korea, which the committee’s report implied placed the country at a disadvantage. It also recommended that India must secure lithium supplies as it was a strategic mineral, and one of the options was to obtain the metal from mines in Chile or Bolivia. 

Hero Electric emerges as India’s largest e2W retailer, EESL to put up EV chargers on highways 

Hero Electric emerged as India’s largest electric two-wheelers brand as it now holds 36% of the market share, a new report by JMK Analytics found. The manufacturer sold 65,000 units in 2021 and it plans to expand its capacity to manufacturing 1 million EVs by 2025 on the back of rising demand. It is also seeking to raise $200-$300 million in funding for its operations. The report further revealed that Okinawa Autotech is India’s second largest e2W manufacturer at 17% of the market share, and it currently has seven models on retail and 500 dealers across the country, compared to 700 for Hero Electric. 

Meanwhile, EESL and its subsidiary, CESL (Convergence Energy Services Ltd.) will set up EV charging stations along 16 of India’s national highways/expressways, and space for them will be provided by NHAI at its toll plazas. The work is expected to be completed by March 2024 and a total of 142 such sites will be tendered out.

US utilities to install EV fast chargers from coast to coast 

50 US utilities signed up to install EV fast chargers from coast to coast as part of a coalition spearheaded by the Edison Electric Institute, and the chargers will be installed across major US travel routes corridors before 2024. The number of chargers to be installed has not been decided, but the coalition intends to take away any hindrance to the adoption of EVs in the US, especially as it expects their sales to jump from 2 million units in 2020 to 20 million by 2030. Also, EVs in the light passenger vehicle category are reported to have crossed 20% in the US’s new vehicle sales this year and the infrastructure expansion plans — including $75,000 for each high voltage fast charger — are part of the Biden administration’s $7.5billion funding plan to boost EV sales in the country. 

Toyota commits to 100% CO2 reduction in Western Europe by 2035

Toyota Motor Europe (TME), the European branch of Toyota Motors, announced that it would aim to reduce 100% of CO2 emissions from its new vehicles in Western Europe by 2035, as it aims to achieve carbon neutrality “as quickly as possible”. However, the announcement only specifies western Europe as Toyota’s strategy will depend heavily on the share of zero-emissions energy available to its vehicles in different markets. The announcement comes amidst its CEO announcing that the world’s largest automaker would invest $70.4billion in capital investment in zero emission vehicles by 2030 — half of which would be funneled into battery EVs — to try and shake off its image of a laggard when it comes to electric vehicles. 

The automaker will, however, continue to pursue hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and its overall goal is to sell 3.5 million zero emission vehicles globally by 2030, which is up from its previous target of 2 million units. 

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