[dgindia]

Currently Indian auto manufacturers are at cross roads and pulled into multiple directions for selecting the right underlying technology to power car.

There are multiple options to power the engine of vehicle -
1. Petrol
2. Diesel
3. CNG
4. Ethanol blended petrol
5. Battery / EV
6. Green Energy

It is a tough decision to make as :

- Setting up an assembly line entails huge investment
- Infrastructure yet to be set for some technologies like EV, Green Hydrogen
- Also there is uncertainty in demand for each technology due to fluid customer preferences.
- Government policies are ever evolving and changes frequently
- For newer technology supplier eco-system is yet invest in R&D for innovative products to support long distance driving

What is the best way forward ?

[bijims]

The fossil fuel tech has almost peaked with almost all major companies taking no interest in developing new Diesel engines, Petrol and Hybrid powertrains are the ones still in development, and CNG has become a choice as a lower-cost alternative to Diesel.

Ethanol-blended petrol E20 has more or less become available across all regions and most cars released lately are E20 compatible.

Battery/EV Technology is rapidly evolving and the newer technologies, faster charging times, and energy-dense cells will ensure that EVs will become the mode of choice over the next decade or so unless other Green energy alternatives usurp them. Hydrogen fuel cell cars are promising but have their drawbacks as well.

Customers are still not ready to fully embrace the change from fossil fuels and therefore, hybrids have started to gain traction in our market lately, Moreover, the infrastructure is still not enough for EVs, but it's growing by the day.

[locusjag]

Somewhat off-topic, but definitely related to the thread.

While at work, I was compiling a list of Catastrophic events across the globe and spotted a trend. In a 30 year period (1970s to 2000), for instance, the US has had only 5 major hurricanes, 2023 alone had 3 times that number in hurricanes that caused $1B in damages (all are inflation adjusted numbers).

A similar story shaped up before me with wildfires. The 2020s has seen a mind-bending jump in the frequency and severity of wildfires in the US, Canada and Australia.

I don't remember the exact details now but I did create a beautiful slide with the exponential jump in flooding events globally in recent years (leaving out storm surge flooding, which is purely a phenomenon in coastal areas due to wind during hurricanes; which is to say, all these floods were either due to excessive rain or melted glaciers).

We should consider a future where our current lifestyle becomes impossible to carry on with. ICE vehicles will get killed off inevitably, because I fear that weather-related catastrophes will impact us all in one way or the other - droughts, heatwaves, floods, cyclones and what have you....

Are ICE vehicles the only villain in this story though? No. Are these the politically correct and low-hanging fruits which governments can take action on? Yes.