The revisions to the FAME II (Faster adoption and manufacturing of electric vehicles in India) scheme by the Ministry of Heavy Industry, states an increase in the subsidy by 50 per cent for the two-wheelers made in India that meet the requirements, upto Rs 15,000 per kwh. The cap on incentives for electric two-wheelers will be 40 per cent of the vehicle's cost. This step drastically reduces the price of such electric two wheelers and will play an important role in boosting the sales of the same.
The FAME II scheme 2019 eligibility criteria as stated is a two wheeler with a minimum range of 80km and a minimum top speed of 40kph. The scheme subsidy amount earlier was Rs 10,000/kwh, which is now amended and increased by 50 per cent.
The amendment is done in order to promote the electric two wheeler sales and production in India and make it an electric vehicle country by the year 2030 according to the NITI Aayog plans.
As the prices have been reduced, the new electric two wheeler prices almost match up to the prices of their ICE competition. The Aprilia SXR160 (ICE) ex-showroom price ranges from Rs 1.26 to Rs 1.31 lakh.
Ather energy has already reduced the prices of 450X by Rs 14,500, which had a retail price of Rs 1.4 lakh, ex-showroom in Delhi. At a similar price range you can now get a cleaner scooter, one that promises instant thrills and is also far more modern. Following this the price of other electric bikes that meet the FAME II scheme criteria are believed to be reduced by the same massive Rs 15,000/kwh margin.
In addition to that, the attempt to make three-wheeler EVs more affordable and at par with their ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) counterparts is also a part of the amendment by EECL, aggregating three lakh electric three-wheelers for multiple user segments. The central government also plans on targeting the major cities (Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Surat, and Pune) for electric busses. EECL has been mentioned to aggregate demand for the electric buses in these cities.
The revisions won’t bring about drastic changes to the sales of EVs, but are surely a step forward in India’s EV journey. Although there is no specific mention regarding four-wheelers in the amendment, we are seeing an increasing number of carmakers who have EVs in the pipeline. We already have the trio of Tata Nexon EV, Hyundai Kona and MG ZS EV among premium e-SUVs while luxury EVs are also taking off with the likes of the Mercedes EQC, Jaguar I-Pace and the soon to launch Audi e-tron.