Support battery electric trucks in the Delhi EV Policy 2.0
The current Delhi Electric Vehicle (EV) Policy, which will end in August 2023, has been instrumental in accelerating adoption of EVs in the national capital. Delhi is the lighthouse state in India for adoption of electric mobility and the ICCT’s analysis supports extending these efforts to include incentives for medium- and heavy-duty truck electrification in the upcoming Delhi EV Policy 2.0. Based on the analysis, which includes inputs from an ICCT-commissioned virtual teardown study of electric and diesel trucks (publication forthcoming), this brief suggests a few amendments for the Delhi EV Policy 2.0, including: To improve the cost competitiveness of battery electric trucks (BETs), provide purchase incentives between INR 10,000 and 15,000 per kWh of battery size, capped at 40% of ex-showroom cost. Extend the 5% interest subvention on loans for L5N and N1 vehicles to cover the purchase of BETs. This would help make the total cost of ownership of BETs attractive compared to internal combustion engine trucks and help accelerate their uptake. It is important to support national-level incentives for the BET market, and to do this, the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi could submit a representation to the Ministry of Heavy Industries recommending that purchase subsidies for BETs be offered in the next phase of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme. Until then, a self-sustaining fund for incentivizing BETs within Delhi could be maintained by leveraging the existing fund from the Environmental Compensation Charge; if this is insufficient, levying a small additional fee of INR 25–50 on diesel and CNG trucks entering Delhi could be explored. Incentivize the deployment of DC high-power charging infrastructure to support the rapid uptake of BETs across different applications, and the upstream infrastructure assets of electric utilities should be augmented by the utilities where required. Extend concessional land rates to public high-power charging stations.
