Sale, registration of EVs without pre-fitted batteries welcome, but more incentives needed: Cos

The government's move to allow sale and registration of electric vehicles (EVs) without pre-fitted batteries will help in popularising such vehicles by lowering the upfront cost, but GST on battery also needs to be reduced, according to EV manufacturers.

The government's move to allow sale and registration of electric vehicles (EVs) without pre-fitted batteries will help in popularising such vehicles by lowering the upfront cost, but GST on battery also needs to be reduced, according to EV manufacturers. The government had on Wednesday allowed sale and registration of electric vehicles without in-built batteries, which account for about 30-40 per cent of the total cost of EVs. It stated that the batteries can be provided separately by companies. Reacting to the development, Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) Director General Sohinder Gill said the move to delink batteries from EVs is a good idea. However, he added that a lot needs to be done before it becomes practically implementable and beneficial to the customers.   "We feel that the announcement should have been made coupled with some other policy measures to make EVs more attractive for the customers as well as for the manufacturers. "For example, announcing reduction of GST on batteries from 18 per cent to 5 per cent, if sold separately and formalising a mechanism of passing on the FAME subsidy to such EVs as currently subsidy is calculated on the battery power sold along with the vehicle," he said. Ather Energy CEO and co-founder Tarun Mehta termed the policy a "great move for both customers and OEMs". "It lowers the upfront cost that the consumer has to pay and allows OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) to build superior products at an affordable price point," he said, adding the new policy opens up new opportunities in financing options. "Based on our learning, it will likely take some time for consumers to understand and adopt this model of ownership, but in the long run it will be a big boost to the Indian EV industry. "It will also make it easier for new players to join the industry. With BS-6 increasing petrol scooter prices, we expect consumers to shift to electric scooters, which offer great performance, in the months to come," he added. Hero Electric Managing Director Naveen Munjal said, "For this to take off and be able to efficiently pass on the benefit to the consumer, we ought to work towards a strong infrastructure that allows EV owners to charge and swapping batteries wherever they require. I look forward to more such positive interventions." Okinawa Managing Director and founder Jeetender Sharma said,"The policy now allows selling electric vehicles without batteries. This widens the scope for manufacturers and buyers both...This is also expected to reduce the overall cost of acquisition of the product by saving amount in the vehicle registration procedure, thus offering affordability." Likewise, a spokesperson of Ampere Electric said this will reduce the cost of acquisition of EVs, especially for two- and three-wheelers, and allow more people to shift from traditional to sustainable and affordable green mobility solutions for last-mile connectivity. SMEV's Gill, however, said for a B2C customer, the EV will "still have to be purchased along with the battery as there are hardly any battery swapping/rental/leasing business models sufficiently available across India." He, however, added, "It makes good sense in B2B where we can have captive swapping stations and business models for batteries as a service are emerging. We have sought clarifications on various aspects of the policy and hope the government would address them soon." PTI RKL ABMABM

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