Energetica India Magazine March 2022

Emerging Trends Expected in the EV Sector for 2022 26 energetica INDIA- Mar_2022 The year 2022 would witness a greater penetration of electrification, self-driv- ing technology, new inventions of Hydrogen fuel cell technology, Smart Charging, advanced new-age technol- ogy, great thermal management tech- nology in Cell to pack design in the new-generation electric vehicles. In the last two years, the COVID-19 pandemic and its subsequent effects have changed the face of the mobili- ty industry, gradually shaping up the automobile industry’s operations and products. In the year 2022, many other changes are expected to shape the au - tomotive industry. 1). More EVs on the road EV companies like Tesla, Ola, and a few other PV Manufacturers like Tata have proven that electric vehicles can replace traditional fossil fuel vehicles in the coming decades. Other factors like rising fuel prices, reducing battery prices, narrowing the gap between the upfront cost of EVs and ICE vehicles, tightening emission norms, low cost of ownership for zero-emission vehicles compared to their ICE counterparts, growing general awareness regarding environmental issues are aiding the sales growth of electric vehicles. Besides the dedicated electric vehicle startups, all the legacy players are also launching their EV offensive with a Electric vehicles are likely to outcompete the traditional ICE vehicles by 2030. Considering that, expect more new electric cars to be launched in 2023, taking the EV share in the global auto industry higher than 2022. wide range of e-cars. Electric vehicles are likely to outcompete the tradition- al ICE vehicles by 2030. Considering that, expect more new electric cars to be launched in 2023, taking the EV share in the global auto industry high- er than 2022. 2). Autonomous cars to see growth If electric cars are to see a significant surge in 2022, the autonomous vehicle segment would have to witness signifi- cant changes in the industry. Self-driv- ing technology is finding growing importance and footprint in the auto industry. Several legacy auto manu- facturers, mobility startups, and tech companies are working on self-driving technology. Expect massive improve- ments in this space and several autono- mous vehicles to come into the market in 2022. This would bring the auto manufactur- ers and technology companies much closer as both sides would like to work together to develop futuristic tech- nologies, more software features, and upgrade operating systems. With the growing demand for self-driving vehi- cles, the latest technologies must be of- fered in the new generation of vehicles to appeal to the younger demographic. 3). Increased Bets on Heavy-Duty Fuel Cell Vehicles Hydrogen fuel cells have low prospects in cars due to high cost, expensive hy- drogen refueling infrastructure which has ‘not manifested itself,’ high hydro- gen fuel prices, and questionable emis- sions reductions if green hydrogen is not used. This was reflected as Honda crashed out of the fuel cell car market in 2021. However, the range and refueling ad- vantage for fuel cell electric vehicles means that heavy-duty applications, such as long-haul trucking or high mileage bus operations, have long of- fered a potential use for the technolo - gy, and progress was built in 2021. Hyundai is currently conducting com- mercial trials in Switzerland with a fleet of 46 FCEV trucks, with plans to increase this to 1,600 trucks by 2025. They have also announced FCEV truck projects in the US and orders for 4,000 FCEV trucks in China. Furthermore, there is also uptake for FCEVs in the bus market, with more than 150 fuel cell buses operating in Europe, 65 in the US, and more than 3000 in China. A growing order book for FCEV buses suggests demand is in- creasing, at least to a pilot-scale level of testing. 4). Smart charging The idea behind smart charging is sim- ple: unlike conventional (or ‘unintel- Mehul Shah VP Transportation BU, Nexcharge ELECTRIC VEHICLES