Well, before starting with this, I would like to mention that I am talking about Indian market. There are basically two major categories of Electric Vehicles ( EV ).
Plugin Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV)
Mitsubishi Outlander P-HEV
PHEVs or simply “Hybrids” are named as such because they have both – an electric motor as well as an internal combustion engine.
While operating in the electric mode they have a low range of operation of around 56Kms. Once they switched to the IC mode, the car moves as well as the emission gases flows to the in-built generator to power the electric grid.
The emission is zero during electric mode, but it is similar to other IC vehicles in IC mode.
The PHEVs are ideal for city drives because they are most efficient to drive in this environment.
At present there are few manufacturers that produce PHEVs. Some of the known brands are Chevrolet (Volt), Mitsubishi (Outlander P-HEV) and Toyota (Prius PHV).
Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV)
Mahindra Reva e2o
Battery Electric Vehicles or just simply EVs are the one that are easily available in Indian markets these days compared to other categories of EVs.
They run only on batteries and have zero emissions. They do have better range of upto 129Kms at full charge.
But, they take longer time to get fully charged. Sometimes, if they are driven efficiently can give a range of upto 322Kms even.
The major bottleneck is the availability of charging points. The starting location and destination, both must have charging facility.
So, in India usage of EVs is challenging unless and until there is a huge network of charging stations across India.
Wrap Up
I believe that BEVs are more practical and economical to maintain compared to PHEVs. Indian Government must look work on developing a wide-spread infrastructure for EVs, so that they can be used in a hassle-free way across India. What do you think ? Share in comments below.