Need to cut cost of battery in electric car: NITI Aayog CEO

As climate change makes itself more and more felt, fossil fuels are being looked at as something that needs to be changed. In an effort to move towards something more sustainable auto companies have no doubt started moving towards the electric path. And while the road will be long and hard, it is not undoable. Here are the electric cars that are already on sale in India.

NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant on Thursday said there is a need to find a technological breakthrough to bring down the cost of battery used in electric cars.

"Despite all the talk, the total number of electric vehicles at present is only one percent," Kant noted while speaking at the eighth Global Entrepreneurship Summit-2017 here, pointing out that electric cars today cost more than ordinary cars with internal combustion engine.

"Once that cost of battery falls, the cost of electric car would be equivalent to (that of) an internal combustion car. So the challenge lies in making a breakthrough in battery (technology)," he said.

He also said there should not be a monopoly in car battery charging service, and for this, inter-operable charging points can be set up.

India presents a huge opportunity to car makers as the per capita car ownership in the country is very low, compared to some of the developed countries, he said.

Kant also pointed that India has the potential to generate enough electricity for electric vehicles as the country is aiming to move towards renewable energy such as solar power.

He, however, also opined that India is not yet ready for driverless cars, and the current opportunity lies in vehicle sharing.

"I am a believer in shared and connected cars. Not in driverless cars. The nature of jobs is changing, the future of work is changing. The future is in shared mobility," the NITI Aayog CEO added.