Hybrid cars—will they work for India?

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: a couple of years if a moderate oil price rise were to be taken into consideration.

Justice would not be done if we do not look at the environmental impact of using hybrids as well. Emissions from petrol cars alone are 22.03 million tonne of carbon dioxide a year. Going by the same assumption of 5% hybrid vehicle penetration, there would be a reduction of 0.55 million tonne in carbon dioxide emissions per annum (assuming a 50% reduction in emissions through hybrids). At 0.23% of the mammoth figure of 244.8 million tonne of total vehicular carbon dioxide emissions per annum, this impact probably is not significant. While on the subject of environmental impact, it is also critical to look at the battery pack of hybrids which is made of nickel-metal-hydride.

Battery disposal is something that clearly lacks regulation and it is not uncommon to see batteries disposed off in public dustbins. Unlike Western countries where there are strict rules and regulations for disposals that are strictly enforced, India has a long way to go. These need to be addressed before introducing new sources of battery waste.

There need to be initiatives to find alternate sources of vehicular energy both from an economic as well as environment perspective. In this effort, hybrid technology undoubtedly is a step in the right direction. But, in the short term, there’s still ground to cover to make this workable in the Indian context and probably there are other easily surmountable means to achieve the same.

If better road infrastructure in cities could lead to a saving of even 10% of driving time, we could safely assume that the savings in fuel would, at the least, be 5%. And road infrastructure is not something that has been discovered in the last few years. In countries like Singapore, despite similar weather conditions as in India, it is rare, if ever, to see potholed roads. Similarly, if of the two lanes available on a road, one is not occupied by parked vehicles or vendors, we straightaway have 100% more capacity.