Tata Power‘s CEO and MD, Praveer Sinha, in an interview with ET Now, talks of the future of electric vehicles and the lucrative sub-Rs 10 lakh car market that clean energy manufacturers could benefit from. Edited excerpts:
How will things work? Are electric chargers at petrol stations the next logical extension for Tata Power? How do you think this will evolve?
First off all I would like to thank MK Surana [CMD, HPCL] for giving Tata Power the opportunity to associate with HPCL. As he said,HPCL has more than 18,000 outlets all over the country and all the oil companies put together have more than 75,000. Now, I don’t think there is any conflict there, we are talking about creating EV infrastructure at petrol stations because today we are in a transition phase. We still have internal combustion engines and they will continue to be there for a long period of time. They are not going away, and we also have lot of people who are transitioning to electric vehicles. Then there are the hybrid vehicles which have both electric and fuel power. They coexist. There is space and opportunity for both of them and that is the way we’re looking at it too.
Tata Power is today in nearly 100 cities and also a number of highways and we have the largest number of EV charging stations in the country. In fact, 50% of the present public charging stations are owned by Tata Power and we have huge plans ahead. Not only are we partnering with HPCL and others in similar businesses – including shopping malls, coffee shops and places like that – but we are also trying to bring in a clean energy ecosystem. So, what we’re also discussing with HPCL is adding solar panels to their stations so they become charging stations while also giving the bunk green energy.
There is a huge market, huge opportunity, there is disruption happening, for the better. I’m sure we will get an opportunity to leverage the market reach that HPCL has and grow as a complimentary business.
India’s coal supply – for electricity – is not exactly consistent, we continue to have power cuts, how important is uninterrupted supply for EVs? While you plan to move to green energy to fuel them, how will you deal with current power issues?
Let me try to give our perspective on this, see, today the existing generation is from conventional sources, as it has been for the last 100 years. Coal has been there since power generation started. This is not going to close down immediately and will continue for another two decades, if not more. When we talk about new energy, we aren’t talking about them as separate entities, we talk about transitioning from coal in the sense that it will be continuous. There is scope for a lot of synergy with oil companies or gas generation. The point is, we have multiple options and an abundance of technology to solve these questions. We need to aim at bringing all of them together rather than shunning any one completely.
We need to ensure that clean, green, affordable and consistent energy is available to everyone. We need to look at it more holistically than putting them into separate compartments and saying this is the only form or this is the only form that will survive in future.
What do you think is the scope of EVs in India? In a market like ours, there are a lot of questions around infrastructure, manufacturing capacities and cost? How soon might India actually see a boon for EVs?
I think the EV penetration in India has started in a big way especially when we look at two wheelers and three wheelers. The number of two wheelers that have been sold in the last two years has been huge and we find that there are more and more manufacturers who are coming in and also improvement in technology and lowering of cost. I remember three years back, two wheelers used to cost more than a lakh and now the lowest entry point is at Rs 60,000, without subsidy. Taking the government subsidy into effect, the price goes lower. Plus, there are a number of manufacturers who are interested in EV manufacturing.
As far as four wheelers and public transport is concerned, we find more and more companies moving towards electric vehicles. We have seen a few launches this year itself, we expect that going forward many of the traditional manufacturers will move to EVs. In the next three to five years there will be a large number of manufacturers and huge variety in different segments of the market. India is a very price conscious market, so for EVs to penetrate there will have to be a less than Rs 10 lakh market that will be the biggest in terms of volume. Tata Motors itself is looking at EVs. They have taken a call.
We are very gung-ho about the opportunity and as a power company we understand that it is not just EV charging but also the seamless experience we need to provide customers through software. We do hope – today we are going about it partnering with HPCL – other companies who have similar outlets and have a pan-India presence can tie up with us and provide great driving experiences
Seems like you have already got an EV parked in your garage?
Yes, I have one. I have been using it for the last one and a half years.
Read more:
Under the pact, Tata Power will provide its EV charging infrastructure at HPCL petrol pumps for users. The charging is enabled with the company’s ‘EZ Charge Mobile’ platform, which makes it a seamless experience to vehicle owners, it said.