Will safety concerns derail Indias push for electric vehicles?
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Encouraging a quick transition to electric vehicles (EVs) is at the heart of India\\u2019s efforts to overhaul its transportation industry. It\\u2019s also because transport accounts for more than 140 million tonnes of carbon emissions - making it the third-largest emitter of CO2 in India. Sales of EVs have been going up consistently in the last few years, leading to suggestions that the industry is about to hit a turning point, but a recent spate of fire incidents in electric two-wheelers has raised severe safety concerns and experts say it\\u2019s time for the government to bring in proper regulation and safety standards in the EV industry.
How hard has consumer confidence been hit? Would incentives to buy EVs fuel its adoption, or would people rather wait for the technology to become more reliable and opt for ICE (a conventional vehicle, powered by the internal combution engine) vehicles instead?
Presenter: Devina Gupta\\nContributors: \\nRajiv Kumar, economist, former vice chairman, Niti Aayog; \\nSulajja Motwani, founder and CEO - Kinetic Green Energy, vice chairperson - Kinetic Group; \\nKedar Soman, chief technology officer, eBikeGo
Photo: A worker on an Electric Bike assembly line Credit: Getty Images
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