There was this piece in Kuensel that really disturbed me saying that Electric Cars in Bhutan are not even Evnrionmentally Friendly, forget being economical. I believe it is totally flawed on wrong asusumptions. Bhutan is one of the first places on earth that have the most advantage of using electric cars.
This is the article.. followed by my say.
http://www.kuenselonline.com/are-e-cars-really-environment-friendly/#.VUmwt_mqqko
Electric Car
Comparison Flawed by Kuensel!
On the Kuensel issue of May 6,
2015 there was a report suspecting that the Electric Cars are environmentally
worse and economically not comparable to, Maruti Altos. I beg to differ, and
provide following justifications. By the way, I am only an electric car user
and an Environmental professional and Engineer.
1.
CDM
benefits are easier said than done and are not applicable for all of our
projects;
Yes, in theory the
Dagachhu power generation could be sold on the CDM market and enable Bhutan to
receive Carbon credits and subsequent payment. However, the Koyoto Protocol and
CDM modalities itself are under major reviews and there is no guarantee that
the credits will be paid up without proper buyers and validation. Also,
currently Bhutan’s total power consumption is only to the tune of only about
15% of our total generation and the rest are exported to India. This excludes
Dagachhu and future hydropower projects that are potential for CDM benefits.
Therefore, what we will be using for charging our electric cars will not be
from the new and upcoming projects which could be used on the CDM market. The
power from our existing Chukhha or Tala or Kurichhu are way more than we can
ever use for chagrining our cars. CDM certification of new hydropower projects
and use of electricity for electric cars are NOT one or other scenario in
Bhutan’s case.
On the other
hand, if we are strategic, we can even sell the idea of CDM certification
of our electric cars. By the theoretical
CDM criteria it will qualify and easier to monitor and verify.
2. Comparison of Maruti Alto’s mileage and its
impact on CO2 emission to that of Nissan Leaf is comparing Apples
and Oranges;
I like the maths in the Maruti Alto Vs
Nissan Leaf. But one of the basic assumption is wrong in the calculation.
Maruti Alto at Nu 500,000 is an economical car with basic functionality. Nissan
Leaf at Nu 1.48M is a compact car with state-of-the-art functions such as 6 Air
Bags, Seat-heating systems, Automatic Transmissions, rear camera, bluetbooth
compatibility, intelligent key with push start, full leather seats, rear wiper
and heater among other things. A fair comparison on that front will be use the
capital cost of Mahindra Reva (costing
about 500,000) to that of Maruti
Alto and
Nissan Leaf to a sedan such as a
Hyundai Accent/Sonata (1.4M+).
Based on these revised comparisons, my maths
tells me that if one wants to drive a slightly more expensive car such as a
Accent/Sontana or for that matter the
recent hot cakes Ford EcoSport or Nissan
Terrano or Duster, Nissan Leaf will take the trophy for Life cycle cost
analysis and emissions. For the entry
level, we will need to compare Maruti Alto with smaller, simpler electric cars
such as Reva.
As far as I know, Bhutan is only
one of the few countries in the world, wherein all of the fossil fuels (diesel,
petrol etc) are imported and almost all of our electricity is hydro-renewable
energy. We thus have the most urgent and crucial need to substitute the import
of fossil fuels by all means possible. This will not only make the country
economically better off but also energy less dependent. I actually believe that
the government should further incentivize the purchase and use of electric
cars. In other countries, besides the no-tax, further rebates also provided.
In many countries, the use and
promotion of electric cars are hindered by the big rich oil companies due to
their vested interest in having a perpetual market for themselves. We do not
have that in Bhutan. It seems our oil importers and business fraternity is in
full support of national security and environmental justice. In Bhutan’s case,
we can perhaps look into lower registration costs for electric cars; better
loan interests by the banks through a collaboration with BOIC; special savings
account for electric car owners, specially taxi owners from their savings; setting
up of fast-charging stations at important nodes; and also helping diversify the
fleet in the country from other manufacturers to avoid any monopoly and
criticism of favoring one or two suppliers alone.
