Electric Scooter Feasibility in India - September 2017 - Part 2

The previous article in this series is at: http://aajkyakiya.blogspot.com/2017/09/electric-scooter-feasibility-in-india.html

To continue with the electric cost calculations, we will now see the cost of charging the battery in a commercial charging station.

Why is this needed? Well, you will sometime have to charge your electric vehicle's battery from a charging station (equivalent of petrol pump for petrol based vehicles). This will definitely be required while on a long drive or in an emergency.

The tariff (of course the max one) for a commercial establishment in my area is:
Consumer Category & Consumption Slab: LT II - LT Commercial
> 50 kW load: Rs. 240 per kVA
Wheeling Charge (Rs/kWh): 1.58
Energy Charge (Rs/kWh): 7.60
Regulatory Asset Charge (Rs/kWh): 1.11
On top of this we have GST 18%

As we have seen in our previous article, our scooter's battery requires 1.345 unit of electricity to charge 100%. So, for every charge in a commercial charging station, the cost will be:
(240 * 1.345) + (1.58 * 1.345) + (7.60 * 1.345) + (1.11 * 1.345) = 336.64 + 18% GST = Rs. 397.24

This is more than the cost for charging the scooter's battery 12.5 times at your home.
i.e. cost for 1 time at charging station > 12.5 times at home

Also note that the electric cost will increase every year, by next year the cost for the same 1.345 units will be Rs. 413, in another year this cost will be Rs. 426.

Now, suppose the equivalent petrol scooter has a 5 litre capacity, then the petrol charge would be: 5 * 80 (considering Rs.80 per litre) = Rs. 400.

So the electricity cost and petrol cost will nearly be the same. The only thing in favor of electricity is the range (km per charge) the scooter will give. But as we have already mentioned in the previous article, the range will go down substantially after the 1st year. So, we will get less and less range with each charge every year (or every month).

Now, on top of this charging cost, we have to add the battery cost of Rs. 20,000 every third year. This makes the electric dream a cost nightmare for the average consumer.

Update (29 Sep 2017):

One more calculation:
For each 100% charge, our scooter gives 48 km in the 1st year, 38 km in the 2nd year, and 30 km in the 3rd year.
And as calculated above, a 100% charge at a commercial establishment will cost around Rs. 400.

And, in Rs. 400 we get 5 litre petrol. This will give us (40 km per liter * 5) = 200 kms.

Per km cost for petrol = Rs. 400 / 200 kms = Rs. 2 per km.
Per km cost for electric = Rs. 397 / 48 kms = Rs. 8.27 per km. (1st year)
Per km cost for electric = Rs. 413 / 38 kms = Rs. 10.87 per km. (2nd year)
Per km cost for electric = Rs. 426 / 30 kms = Rs. 14.2 per km. (3rd year)

At this cost, a commercial electric charge is more than 4(/5/7) times costlier than petrol.
In addition, do not forget the Rs. 20,000 battery to be bought in every 3 years time.

Electric Scooter Feasibility in India - September 2017

A major jolt for the automotive industry took place recently. I have read in the news that India is aggressively pursuing the end of fossil fuels and the rise of electric vehicles. According to the news reports, the benefits of this change will be a cleaner environment, cheaper cost of travel, and more.

Well, I tend to agree on the cleaner environment bit but the cheaper cost of travel part is where I am not convinced.

First, the batteries to be used in these electric vehicles are currently not manufactured in India. A leisurely search on the Internet and on vehicle manufacturing companies websites showed me that a battery for a electric scooter costs around Rs. 20,000. And we would have to change the battery in every 2 years.

Why to change the battery in every 2 years? Because the scooter battery can be charged over only 1000 times. And, each charge will give you about 60 km (stated on the website of the scooter manufacturer).

And, we all know that what the company says is never accurate in the real world usage. So considering a 20% loss, that 60 km range goes down to 48 km. So if you plan to travel 48 km every day then you would have to recharge the battery every day. Again, we all know that battery capacity decreases every year or maybe every month. We get almost 20% less juice from the battery every year. So the 48 km will go down to 38 km in the second year and to 30 km in the third year.

Lets consider the specifications of a currently available electric scooter:

MOTOR: 250 Watt
TOP SPEED: 25 Km/Hr
BATTERY: 48 Volts 20 Ah
RANGE: 60 Km/Charge
BATTERY TYPE: Lithium Ion
CHARGING TIME: 4 - 5 Hours
CHARGER: 48 Volts 6 A

Lets calculate how the charging time is calculated:
Formula: Battery Capacity / Charger Amp = Charging Time
In this case, the battery capacity is 20 Ah and the charger amp is 6 A.
20 / 6 = 3.33 Hours
Consider 40% of losses in battery charging
Then 20 * (40 / 100) = 8
therefore, 20 + 8 = 28 Ah
Now Charging Time of battery = 28 / 6 =  4.67 Hours

Next, the amount of electricity required to fully charge the battery:
Electricity is stated in kilo watts per hour. Suppose, you have a 100 watt bulb, this means that the bulb consumes 100 watt per hour of use. So if you use the bulb for 10 hours then you have used 1 kilo wall (1000 watt) and this is 1 unit of electricity.
So, in our case, the charger is 48 volts * 6 A = 288 watts
And we are using the charger for 4.67 hours = 4.67 * 288 = 1345 watts. This is 1.345 unit of electricity.

Now what is the cost of electricity in your area? In my area it is: (I am showing the highest tier)
Consumer Category & Consumption Slab: LT 1 (B) - Residential | Above 500 units (balance units)
Fixed / Demand Charge per month: Rs. 105
Wheeling Charge (Rs/kWh): 1.61
Energy Charge (Rs/kWh): 8.30
Regulatory Asset Charge (Rs/kWh): 1.07
On top of this we have GST 18%.

So, if your scooter charge gets you above 500 units then you will pay 105 + (1.61*1.345) + (8.30 * 1.345) + (1.07 * 1.345) = 119.77 + 18% GST = Rs. 141.33 for the first charge and Rs. 17.43 for subsequent charges in the month.

Lets compare:
Consider a petrol scooter that gives you 40 km per liter and this electric scooter which gives 48 km per charge. And you travel say 20 km per day:
Total distance in the month: 20 * 30 = 600 km.
Petrol cost: 600 / 40 * (Petrol Cost, say Rs. 80 per liter) = Rs. 1200
Electric cost:
1st year (monthly): 600 / 48 = 12.5 charges = 141.33 + (17.43 * 11.5) = Rs. 341.78
2nd year (monthly): 600 / 38 = 15.79 (rounding to 16 charges) = 141.33 + (17.43 * 15) = Rs. 402.78
3rd year (monthly): 600 / 30 = 20 charges = 141.33 + (17.43 * 19) = Rs. 472.5
Plus add 20,000 for a new battery in the 3rd year.
That comes out to: (341.78 *12) + (402.78 * 12) + (472.5 * 12) = 14,604.72 + 20,000 = Rs. 34,604.72 in three years.
The petrol cost for the three years will be: 1200 * 36 = Rs. 43,200 (Considering the same price for all three years)

Total savings on fuel in three years = 43,200 - 34,604.72 = Rs. 8,595.28. That is Rs. 238.76 per month savings.

So, there is a saving on fuel cost, but not that big to warrant an immediate switch. Maybe with battery manufacturing in India, and cheaper batteries, the electric vehicles will be more attractive to the cost conscience.