Knowledge Nugget: Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) – Key facts for UPSC Exam

Why in the news?

On August 26, the Prime Minister inaugurated and flagged off the “e Vitara”,  Maruti Suzuki’s first Made-in-India global Battery Electric Vehicle at the Suzuki Motor plant in Hansalpur, Ahmedabad. Officials said that these BEVs will be even exported to advanced markets like Europe and Japan.

He also inaugurated the next phase of India’s battery ecosystem with the start of local production of hybrid battery electrodes at the TDS Lithium-Ion Battery plant in Gujarat. The plant, a joint venture of Toshiba, Denso and Suzuki, is expected to boost domestic manufacturing and clean energy innovation. With this, more than 80 per cent of the battery value will now be manufactured within India.

Key takeaways:

1. Maruti Suzuki will begin the commercial production of the EV from August 26 in its plant in Hansalpur, Ahmedabad. It is also India’s first plant that has an automobile Gati Shakti Multimodal Cargo Terminal or railway siding for transportation of cars.

2. Notably, India is aiming for 80 per cent of two- and three-wheelers to be electric by 2030, along with 40 per cent of buses and 30 per cent of private cars. For this, in the Union Budget 2025, import duties were eliminated on a range of materials that make the lithium-ion batteries which power EVs – effectively a push to boost domestic battery makers.

3. Importantly, a new study by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee and the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) released on the occasion of World Environment Day this year, finds that battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in India emit up to 38% less CO2e per kilometre (kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilometre) compared to ICEVs in the passenger cars segment, with the potential for even greater savings if India’s power grid becomes cleaner.

4. According to the e-AMRIT portal, there are four types of electronic vehicles available:

(i) Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV):  It replaces the internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, with Li-ion making it fully powered by electricity. It is more efficient compared to hybrid and plug-in hybrids.

(ii) Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV): These vehicles use both an internal combustion engine and a battery charged from an external socket (they have a plug). The battery of the vehicle is charged with electricity rather than the engine. It is more efficient than HEVs but less efficient than BEVs.

(iii) Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV): It uses both the internal combustion (usually petrol) engine and the battery-powered motor powertrain. The petrol engine is used both to drive and charge when the battery is empty. These vehicles are not as efficient as fully electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles.

(iv) Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV): It uses chemical energy to generate electric energy. Hydrogen FCEV uses hydrogen and air to generate electricity, producing only heat and water in the process.  Since they’re powered entirely by electricity, FCVs are considered EVS-but unlike BEVS, their range and refuelling processes are comparable to conventional cars and trucks.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, President of Suzuki Motors Toshihiro Suzuki, Maruti Suzuki India MD and CEO Hisashi Takeuchi and others during a flagging off ceremony of Maruti Suzuki’s first electric vehicle e-Vitara from the Hansalpur manufacturing facility, in Ahmedabad district of Gujarat. (PMO via PTI Photo)

5. Important schemes implemented by the government to promote electric vehicle (EV) adoption

(a) PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-Drive): It was launched on October 1, 2024 to replace previous flagship initiatives such as the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) policy, which expired in March, and the three-month Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme (EMPS), which ended on September 30, 2024. It provides  upfront incentives for purchase and supporting the installation of critical EV charging infrastructure.

(b) e-AMRIT: It is a web portal on EVs which was launched at the COP26 Summit in Glasgow. Developed by NITI Aayog, the portal provides information on EV adoption, purchase, investment opportunities, policies, and subsidies.

(c) Production Linked Incentives (PLI)  for Automobile and Auto Component Industry in India (PLI-Auto): Since its launch in April 2020, the PLI scheme covers 14 sectors as of now. It provides financial incentives to boost domestic manufacturing of Advanced Automotive Technology (AAT) products with minimum 50% Domestic Value Addition (DVA) and attract investments in the automotive manufacturing value chain.

(d) PM e-Bus Sewa-Payment Security Mechanism (PSM) Scheme: It was approved last year with an outlay of Rs. 3,435.33 crore, for procurement and operation of e-buses by Public Transport Authorities (PTAs). The scheme will support deployment of more than 38,000 electric buses in the country.

BEYOND THE NUGGET: Sodium-ion (Na-ion) battery

1. Recently, the research team at the Bengaluru-based Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology, has developed a super-fast charging sodium-ion (Na-ion) battery that can charge up to 80 per cent in just six minutes and claims to last over 3,000 charge cycles.

2. It is a promising step in India’s efforts at nurturing an alternative to the lithium-ion chemistry— the most common element in battery manufacturing where China has a virtual stranglehold. Also, Sodium is way more abundant than lithium and can be extracted from seawater at relatively lower costs, unlike lithium, where availability is concentrated in a few countries.

3. The new battery is based on a ‘NASICON-type’ (Na-Super-Ionic Conductor) chemistry, a class of polyanionic materials with a known structure in electrochemical materials.

 Post Read Questions

(1) Consider the following types of vehicles: (UPSC CSE 2025)

I. Full battery electric vehicles

II. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles

III. Fuel cell-electric hybrid vehicles

How many of the above are considered as alternative powertrain vehicles?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) All the three

(d) None

(2) Which one of the following is the exhaust pipe emission from Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles, powered by hydrogen? (UPSC CSE 2024)

(a) Hydrogen peroxide

(b) Hydronium

(c) Oxygen

(d) Water vapour

(Sources: EVs could be the game-changer India needs, Electric Vehicles (EV) Schemes across India 2024: All you need to know, heavyindustry.gov.in, e-amrit.niti.gov.in, Battery technology: Indian players double down on sodium-ion chemistry as China tightens lithium-ion stranglehold)

Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter. Stay updated with the latest UPSC articles by joining our Telegram channel – IndianExpress UPSC Hub, and follow us on Instagram and X.

🚨 Click Here to read the UPSC Essentials magazine for August 2025. Share your views and suggestions in the comment box or at manas.srivastava@indianexpress.com🚨