TVS Motor's Venu Srinivasan Thinks EVs Are Overhyped And Explains Reasons For Slowdown

“EVs are hyped up like panacea as if they can solve all problems,” said Venu Srinivasan, chairman emeritus, TVS Motors. He attributes the hollow hype to the lack of infrastructure and the time the nation will take to transition.

One of the key issues with the adoption of EVs has been infrastructure. Though it has been growing fast, the requirement is multifold.

“Two-wheelers with overnight charging gives use for 90km, while the usage range is 30km. There is no range anxiety here. (However) cars have an issue. Cars are difficult to charge at homes especially,” he said.

“EVs are hyped up like panacea as if they can solve all problems,” said Venu Srinivasan, chairman emeritus, TVS Motors. He attributes the hollow hype to the lack of infrastructure and the time the nation will take to transition.

One of the key issues with the adoption of EVs has been infrastructure. Though it has been growing fast, the requirement is multifold.

“Two-wheelers with overnight charging gives use for 90km, while the usage range is 30km. There is no range anxiety here. (However) cars have an issue. Cars are difficult to charge at homes especially,” he said.

Zooming out, the slowdown in EV sales is not limited to India. “Billions were spent on manufacturing and infrastructure of EVs. Now they are finding that the companies are slowing down,” said Srinivasan. The tight 10-year deadlines may be the factor that has pressured performance, he said.

“It may not happen in 2030 but maybe 2040. In the long term, EVs will come back with better infrastructure as European companies are giving up their competitive advantage,” Srinivasan said.

Further, he also believes that an orderly transition is going to be key when it comes to adopting EVs.

Transitioning from fossil fuels needs to be a stepwise process. There are currently three broad options — EVs, CNG vehicles and hybrid vehicles. “An orderly migration into CNG, hybrid needs to happen first as they are better and cleaner. And then we can transition into electric,” Srinivasan said.

“It is substantially free compared to earlier, there’s a day and night difference. Factory laws are regulated at the state level and there is progress. But for the country to progress, we need to get all the states on board for common programme of liberalized permissions,” he said.

Highlighting possible roadblocks like red tape in the system, Srinivasan said that the consumption and increasing population in the country will always call for growth in consumption.

Looking at other global cues, Srinivasan believes that it is too early to predict the actions of the US government, despite the comments that have been made about taxes and tariffs.

“Trump made comments but once in power, he'll be responsible for growth, inflation and more. Drastic threats may be there, but he will need to protect and bring manufacturing back to America. This might cause some pain on inflation, but America needs to take that,” he said.

Talking about stressful changes, Srinivasan remembers the shift from two-strokes to four-stroke engines to be one. Given the unique advantages both the engines, Srinivasan recalls the transition as a major challenge.

“Four stroke is efficient but two stroke is simple and easy use. Balances shifting with oil prices post war is when the four-strokes,” he said.

The four-stroke engines had taken off due to the crisis and there was pressure from the government and environmentalist for lower carbon spewing machines. The transition took time but Srinivasan said they responded with TVS Victor in 2000.