Recently on 26^th August, Prime Minister Modi, along with Toshihiro Suzuki, Director and President, Suzuki Motor Corporation, flagged off the production of Maruti Suzuki’s first BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle), the e Vitara, at Suzuki Motor’s Gujarat plant at Hansalpur, near Ahmedabad. Maruti Suzuki has not revealed when its e Vitara will be launched in India, but I think it’s unlikely to happen anytime soon.  However, Maruti has confirmed that later this month, exports to the European region and Japan will begin, with the e Vitara eventually being exported to some 100 countries. Commendable for sure, but why export before selling locally? In my view, therein lies another story.

This big e Vitara rollout event that I was scheduled to attend, but foolishly opted out of at the last minute due to fears of bureaucratic security protocols, crowds of irritating political hangers- on, etc, was graced by several dignitaries including Japanese Ambassador Keiichi Ono, who made a speech in Gujarati that has gone viral.  It also marked the start in India of local manufacturing of the first lithium-ion battery and cell with electrode- level localization, for strong hybrid electric vehicles. Certainly something to celebrate.

But please note, we are still not making battery cells for fully electric vehicles and these have to be imported, mainly from China. In light of this, what R.C. Bhargava, Chairman Maruti Suzuki, said at the rollout event, is of great and grave importance. But before that let me tell you that I am a massive fan of R.C. Bhargava. People may say I am biased, because I had the privilege and honour of him writing the foreword for my book “The Golden Quadrilateral”, which he also helped launch with Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari in July 2016.

The truth of the matter is that while I admire and hold R.C. Bhargava in high esteem, there is also no denying the fact that he is one of the few people in the Indian automobile industry that does not hold back his punches and speaks his mind, even if it means offending the authorities and any others.  Given this, and his immense knowledge and unmatched experience, I pay a lot of attention and importance to what he says. And at this extremely notable landmark event in Gujarat, Maruti Chairman R.C. Bhargava said, “Making battery cells domestically for electric vehicles remains a challenge. Nobody is making them in our country. We just package cells we import into batteries, but actual production of the cell itself does not happen. This is mainly due to the problem of access to the raw material, lithium-ion.  How can you invest big sums like Rs 20,000 crores or so, to put up a battery cell manufacturing plant, without being sure of supply of the raw material? Only option is that you bring in a Chinese company as a majority partner and tell them to ensure supply”. Bhargava further added “The best solution would be if our Indian scientists come up with technologies that could solve reliance on external supplies. Our energy needs are growing and will increase even more, with growth of manufacturing industry and charging of EVs. But we don’t generate enough clean energy and instead burn coal to generate power. So we need to recognize the limitation of electric cars to bring about cleanliness in the environment. Our policies should promote bio gas, CNG, bio fuels, hybrids, and not only EVs”.

There you have it. Once again, in his distinctive style, R.C. Bhargava has spelt out the actual problem facing the manufacture of EVs in India. And how EVs may not be the great environment cleansers they are made out to be. He has also laid out the need for – Atmanirbharta or self-reliance and invention and innovation. What has also emerged and some sources have confirmed, is that Maruti, a manufacturer known for its affordable and value for money products, is currently reluctant or hesitant to commit to selling large volumes of EVs in the Indian car market, due to the high cost of importing batteries. And of course there is also the uncertainty about when China will again pull the plug and stop or slow supply of rare earth magnets and lithium-ion batteries, like it did just recently. EVs are extremely dependent on them because about 50% on an EV is made up of the battery pack (containing lithium-ion cells) and its components. And rare earth magnets play a very important role in the electric motors and also help convert electrical energy to kinetic energy and vice versa. And the undisputed fact is that China controls supply of both these important elements and components.

Yes, China dominates and controls the supply of rare earth magnets, with over 70% of global production and a dominant share of refining capacity. It also controls the electric car battery supply chain due to its dominance in processing critical minerals, manufacturing battery cells, and producing battery materials like graphite, cobalt, and lithium. As a matter of fact, recent estimates place China’s share of global battery cell manufacturing at around 80%! This is obviously a supply chain that China completely controls, and which it can turn off at any time. And many countries globally, including India have become over dependent on China, because in my view we all fell into the well conceived and impeccably laid out trap, of being made to believe that EVs are the messiah’s to controlling emissions and cleaning our air, earth, and environment. And though I am a hardcore nature lover and environmentalist, and completely in favour of controlling pollution, I have never quite been convinced by the argument that “EVs are the only solution”. Whereas this is a matter of active debate, what nobody can argue about is that we Indians are becoming increasingly reliant on China due to import of batteries and rare earth magnets, and this is clearly a vulnerability that they could potentially exploit. It’s also true that we are trying to increase domestic battery production to reduce this dependence, but this is unlikely to happen anytime soon.

We make some very good internal combustion engine vehicles, and are almost fully “Atmanirbhar” when it comes to them. So why are we increasing our dependence on China? And that too for electric vehicles whose actual contribution in cleaning our environment and planet in the long term, is still a debatable one, with both sides of the argument having some merit. Given this, in my view, we need to go a bit slower with phasing out of internal combustion engine vehicles. All this talk of banning sale of fossil fuels and stopping IC engine vehicles must stop. Several western countries have now revised their deadlines and have delayed the withdrawal of fossil fuel powered vehicles. But for reasons that I still don’t fully comprehend, we don’t seem to be correcting course. Especially when it’s something our politicians do so well. They are known for saying something and going back on it.

So now can we please quickly stop sending out those alarm signals that fossil fueled vehicles are going to be discontinued. And assure people that this is not going to happen anytime soon, like at least for the next 10 to 15 years. Or at minimum, until such time as we are as “Atmanirbhar” in making EVs, as we are in manufacturing IC vehicles.  Sure please promote EVs, create the infrastructure, manufacturing base and so on. But I don’t think we should be putting all our eggs in the EV basket. In my view, both ICs and EVs should and can co-exist, and the change can surely be more gradual and seamless. Right now, there are many other things that can be done to reduce pollution. So let’s tackle those instead of playing to the global gallery and doing showy things like banning fossil fueled vehicles and making a comprehensive transition to electric vehicles.