Electric vehicles gain traction in city

Nischith N. | NT

Bengaluru: The electric vehicles are gradually gaining acceptability in the city and latest reports indicate that the demand has grown significantly in the last three years. Apart from the customers’ urge to look for pollutionfree alternatives, the recent soaring fuel costs have also motivated many to explore the electric mobility option.

According to the recent data, Karnataka has 65,931 electric vehicles, out of which Bengaluru alone has more than 58, 978 such vehicles. Over 19, 000 plus e-vehicles were registered in 2020-21.

“We are doing our best to promote electric vehicles to avoid pollution. The number of registered electric vehicles, available through government data, has seen consistent increase in the last three years. As of now electric vehicle EV with its zero-emission guarantee is the future of transportation. For a city with a population of over one crore, ease of transport is a necessity,” said Purshotham, ACP (EGovernance) Transport Department. The continuous rise fuel prices are also pushing commuters to look for cheaper mobility solutions. Electric vehicles do provide a potential low-cost alternative and it may gain traction in the current scenario of rising operational costs of both petrol and diesel vehicles. However, if the authorities are really keen to bolster their sales, the charging infrastructure needs to be beefed up. The current number of charging stations is woefully inadequate to usher in greater acceptance of electric vehicles among the buyers.

“As per the existing provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act, it is not possible to restrict new registration of vehicles. Also the number should reach to lakh in Bengaluru. However, in the interest of the environment, registration of e-vehicles should be promoted by the government first and then the public will be influenced to go e-vehicle. Electric vehicles is definitely a good solution a cab driver can save at least Rs 4.50 per kilometre for operating 160 km daily,” said Kiran Prakash, an activist, to News Trail. In recent days the state and central governments have claimed that in the next three years all the official vehicles will be electric.

Though Karnataka has waived road tax and registration charges for electric vehicles, consumers point out that this is not enough. States such as Gujarat and Delhi are offering subsidies to EV vehicle buyers, and hence these vehicles are much cheaper in these states.

Keeping with the national trend, two-wheelers form an overwhelming chunk of electric vehicle sales, while the share of three-and fourwheelers is much lower. An electric two-wheeler is much lighter on the pocket, when compared with an electric four-wheeler, and as they are used mainly for short-haul drives, charging is not much of a hassle.

According to the reports only 19, 413 e-vehicles were registered in the city in 2021. Electronic City RTO tops the list with 3,800 e-vehicle registrations during the period, while Devanahalli came at the bottom of the table (44).