[AutoNoob]

Government To Give Nearly ₹ 26,000 Crore In Revised Clean Tech Scheme For Automakers - focus on electric and hydrogen fuel-powered vehicles

Source : NDTV Car & Bike

India will give about $3.5 billion or ₹ 25,756 crore in incentives to auto companies over a five-year period under a revised scheme to boost the manufacturing and export of clean technology vehicles, two sources aware of the latest proposal told Reuters. The government's original plan was to give about $8 billion or ₹ 58,861 crore to automakers and part manufacturers to promote mainly petrol technology, with added benefits for electric vehicles (EVs).

The scheme was redrawn to focus on companies that build electric and hydrogen fuel-powered vehicles, Reuters reported on Friday, with the shift just as Tesla Inc is gearing up to enter India.

one of the sources said that since the focus had changed to clean and advanced technology fewer companies would be eligible for the incentives.

So, after EVs, then flex fuel engines, incentives for petrol only engines, focus is now shifting to Hydrogen vehicles. I am interested in seeing for how long the current announcement stands.

[fordday]

Ah!
I knew some sort of govt largesse is in the pipeline for Mr. Ambani to announce mega plans for hydrogen.

link

It says reliance aims to market green hydrogen, that is hydrogen produced by using electricity from renewable resources like solar or wind power, at 1 dollar per kg in the coming decade.

[klgiridhar]

This is a welcome move but I hope the Government stands by their commitment given to the manufacturers. The manufacturers lately are stressed every year with a variety of regulation changes, derailing their long term goals.

Originally Posted by fordday

Ah!
It says reliance aims to market green hydrogen, that is hydrogen produced by using electricity from renewable resources like solar or wind power, at 1 dollar per kg in the coming decade.

Let it be Ambani or anyone else, I am all up for anyone bringing the cost of production and storage of hydrogen down . These two are the main reasons, BEVs are currently preferred over Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs).

If hydrogen production becomes cheaper, storage becomes easier and availability is increased, FCEVs make a lot more sense compared to BEVs because,

• No need to carry a large and heavy battery pack.
• Zero to tankful in five to ten minutes. (When compared to 1-1.5 hours in case of BEVs)
• Lighter vehicles.
• No stress of battery degradation or lithium disposal/pollution.
• Only exhaust by-product is pure water.

But BEVs do have some advantages like we can charge them from the comfort of our homes, relatively easier to recharge batteries when compared to filling hydrogen at very high pressures (more caution required), the availability and growth of more powerful DC fast-charging stations, newer innovations preventing excessive battery degradation etc.

The news from Tesla last month, claiming that they are able to recover 92% of raw materials from the battery manufacturing scrap and end-of-life batteries (i.e., from 1000 kWh worth of end-of-life batteries, Tesla's process recovered 921 kWh of raw material for battery production) is also providing hope that all the used lithium will not be ending up in landfills (though there will still be a significant chunk going there). More on this here: https://electrek.co/2021/08/09/tesla...cling-process/

The future is definitely exciting. Hope the Government and OEMs work hand-in-hand and in a stable manner.

[S.MJet]

Originally Posted by fordday

Ah!
I knew some sort of govt largesse is in the pipeline for Mr. Ambani to announce mega plans for hydrogen.

link

I thought this scheme is for Automobile Manufactures.

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by fordday

---

It says reliance aims to market green hydrogen, that is hydrogen produced by using electricity from renewable resources like solar or wind power, at 1 dollar per kg in the coming decade.

Strange thing is, Centre constitutes task force and expert committee on coal-based hydrogen production

Link

[avishar]

Originally Posted by fordday

Ah!
I knew some sort of govt largesse is in the pipeline for Mr. Ambani to announce mega plans for hydrogen.

link

It says reliance aims to market green hydrogen, that is hydrogen produced by using electricity from renewable resources like solar or wind power, at 1 dollar per kg in the coming decade.

I don't think this has anything to do with green hydrogren. Green H2 is indeed going to be become a massive industry, but it's use case would lean towards industrial use, for example in the manufacturing of steel. With most companies committed to cutting carbon emissions, the demand for green hydrogren is going to go up. Reliance has a plan to tap into that market but they would initially look to producing for industrial and say shipping.

It dovetails neatly with Reliance's other plan which involves making cheap solar power by controlling the entire value chain, from silicon wafers to solar panels.


This is actually more to do with helping Musk. Initially it was supposed to be a PLI scheme for automobile parts. But the government has scrapped it and instead made it into a PLI scheme for EVs and alternate fuels. How it will work is, Tesla will have to apply for this scheme and give a commitment that they will manufacturer Rs xxxxxx crores of cars with xx% of domestic procurement etc. Only if they hit that target next year, will the government hand over the incentive to them. Usually it is in the range of 3-5% of incentive. Tata Motors is also expected to apply.

[shortbread]

One can see the government being lobbied from multiple sides:

Tata: Kindly push for EV adoption
Reliance: Let's invest in a Hydrogen network
Toyota: Hybrids are the future
Suzuki: Carburetted petrol engines and 4 speed gearboxes once again please


Aam Aadmi: Will someone make up their minds!

[MartinVirage]

I don't understand considering the economic and infrastructural conditions of India, why does'nt the government push for hybrid technologies (proper ones) and not force people to invest in new cars - just to comply into flex fuels or BEVs

[shortbread]

Originally Posted by MartinVirage

I don't understand considering the economic and infrastructural conditions of India, why does'nt the government push for hybrid technologies (proper ones) and not force people to invest in new cars - just to comply into flex fuels or BEVs

Hybrids was the transition needed when EVs were struggling with 100 mile range. Manufacturers liked it, enabled them to continue using IC powertrains and charge more for hybrid add ons.

A buyer ends up paying for an IC engine/gearbox, batteries, electric motor, controls, complexities etc.

EV range today has reached a stage where it covers 95% of people's needs, therefore avoids having to be supplemented by an IC engine.

If EV costs need to be brought down, then batteries need to be cheaper and the way to do this is domestic production and volumes.

Infrastructure is growing at a rapid pace and in another two years time there will be no lack of charging stations, especially when private sector invests into the EV charging business model.