Page 13 - The Indian EYE 121622

OP-ED DECEMBER 16, 2022 | The Indian Eye 13

How the electric vehicles are

greening the planet

Some big foreign car manufacturers are also setting up circular economy businesses, not just for

batteries, but also for auto parts and cars. The effort is to recycle materials from used cars for

fresh production

SADHNA SHANKER

he month of October 2022,
saw the highest monthly sale
Tof Electric scooters in India.
Moreover, the monthly registration
for all electric vehicles crossed the
one lakh figure. Compared to Oc-
tober 2021 figures, the increase was
nearly 190%. For pollution drenched The increasing use of electric vehicles, and adoption circular processes in the manufacturing of these vehicles is an encouraging sign (File photo)
cities, switching to electric vehicles is
an important milestone. adopted their own Electric Vehicle Traditionally manufacturing has that remains to pollute the planet. In
Electric vehicles are said to be the policies. Presently, there are nearly been a linear process. Raw materials
future, because they are eco-friendly 934 charging stations in the country are transformed into finished goods, India, some of the bigger business
houses are already in the process of
and also have lower running costs. with more being added both in the which reach the hands of the ultimate setting up gigafactories for manufac-
The first electric two-wheeler in the public and private sector. consumer. Once the life of the prod- ture of batteries, and other critical
country was manufactured in 1996 Electric vehicles are good for the uct is over, it is simply disposed of. components of the new clean energy
by Scooters India Limited called the environment, as they do not rely on Clothes, electronic goods, footwear, eco-system.
Vikram Safa. fossil fuels and have nearly zero tail more recently masks and PPE kits Some big foreign car manufac-
The first well know electric car pipe emissions. They are also silent, are examples of goods that have been
in India was the Reva, which was un- and their maintenance cost is low as dumped indiscriminately after use. turers are also setting up circular
economy businesses, not just for bat-
veiled in 2001. the number of components in the en- Such disposal often causes accumula- teries, but also for auto parts and cars.
Since then, globally electric ve- gine are fewer as compared to com- tion of non-biodegradable waste that
hicles have come a long way. Near- bustible engines. pollutes the planet in different ways. The effort is to recycle materials from
used cars for fresh production.
ly all big manufactures of the world The most important and expen- According to a report of the World The increasing use of electric
including Tesla, Mercedes Benz, sive component in the electric vehicle Economic Forum, less than 9% of the vehicles, and adoption circular pro-
Audi, Hyundai, Mahindra, Chevro- is its battery. They contain materials raw material used in manufacturing cesses in the manufacturing of these
let, BMW, and Renault are making such as lithium, cobalt, manganese around the world is reused! vehicles is an encouraging sign. Other
ground-breaking electric vehicles. and nickel which are fairly costly. The Gigafactories are moving to- industries with huge wastages could
The Faster Adoption and Man- factories that produce these batteries wards the circular economy by aiming
ufacturing of (Hybrid and) Electric are called ‘Gigafactories’, because to produce their batteries from used also consider embracing recycling and
reuse of their goods in manufacture.
Vehicles (FAME) – I and II initiatives the battery output is measured in batteries. This makes economic sense Greening the planet is not only a neces-
of Government of India, begun in gigawatt hours. The term was first – the raw materials for batteries are sity, but also a collective responsibility.
December 2015, are promoting man- used by Elon Musk, sometime in expensive. By using the material from
ufacture of electric vehicles, charging 2013, to describe the massive battery batteries that have reached their end Sadhna Shanker is a writer based in
stations and battery manufacturing. production facility that the electric of life, both the business and the en- New Delhi, India.
Nearly 16 states in the country have car company Tesla was building. vironment benefit. There is no waste Email: [email protected]

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