EV Prices To Be A On Par With Cost Of Petrol Vehicles:

Nitin Gadkari, the Road Transport and Highways Minister, on Friday said that the prices of electric vehicles will be on par with petrol vehicles within a year. The Minister said that the government is promoting crop residue-made ethanol instead of petrol and diesel.

While addressing a media event, Nitin Gadkari said that the government is promoting green fuels and in the next year, EVs will be priced competitively compared to petrol vehicles, helping customers save money on fossil fuels.

Electric vehicles will be equivalent to the cost of petrol vehicles in the country and we will save money spent on fossil fuels,” he said while addressing a media event.

Currently, EVs are expensive due to the high cost of batteries, which account for anywhere between 35 percent to 40 percent of the price of a vehicle, depending on the type. At present, in the passenger vehicles segment, an entry-level EV could cost almost two times that of a comparable conventional engine version. In the two-wheelers segment too, the electric versions cost nearly 1.5 times the petrol-powered models. The minister further said the government is already promoting green fuels in a big way. Gadkari noted that waterways are a cheaper mode of transportation than roads and it is going to come up in a big way.

The Minister also spoke about waterways and how transporting goods this way is more economical compared to road transport and how the waterway transportation will see development soon. As of now, major companies are using the railway network to transport goods across the country, which has proven to be cost-effective.

At present, in the passenger vehicles segment, an entry-level EV could cost almost two times that of a comparable conventional engine version. In the two-wheelers segment too, the electric versions cost nearly 1.5 times the petrol-powered models.