I even had a laptop with me initially, which I later replaced with a much, much lighter Chromebook.”Luckily for us,China electric bike we can savour some of these magical moments by merely turning pages instead of pushing pedals. His trusted companion on this epic journey was his all-steel bicycle, aptly named ‘Quest’. 387, Rs 499.THE ASIAN AGE. If you’re looking for travel, fitness and determination goals to inspire you, Grit, Gravel and Gear by Dhruv Bogra, will give you all of those and then some.
Dhruv, who is a seasoned retail professional, has held many senior leadership roles in blue chip companies.Dhruv, who is a seasoned retail professional, has held many senior leadership roles in blue chip companies. Sometime in my early 40s, I began to feel that I needed to reclaim my inner calling, to truly live my life and make my personal vision for myself take actual shape and form.end-ofTags: dhruv bogra, grit, gravel and gear. In fact, on that trip, I also cycled solo from Seward to Anchorage. Explaining the quantum shift from being a retail professional to cycling across the globe, Dhruv says, “I have always had an adventurous spirit with a keen interest in the outdoors, ancient history, culture and exploring off-beat places. “I plunged myself into mountain biking and exploring the Himalayas or Western Ghats on any break I could catch from work. “I was so enthralled by the week I spent exploring the Chugach mountains in the Arctic that I just knew I had to come back there on a bicycle. It connects well with the reader and talks about his dream and how he worked to accomplish it. On being asked what motivated him to write this book, Dhruv answers, “I always knew I was going to write a book on the journey. Before I embarked on the odyssey, I had thought about writing about the people I would meet on the way and their experiences with life and happiness.” he shares how the idea was born.The book brings alive this journey of exploring people, their culture and mindset and even the weather.The new non-fiction novel titled Grit, Gravel and Gear tells the tale of cyclist and author Dhruv Bogra’s 400-day adventure. This inspiring piece of non-fiction writing features 22 gripping stories by this man, who travelled alone for 15,000 kilometres across 10 countries and up to an elevation of 220,000 feet (akin to climbing Mt Everest seven times!). “The journey changed all that,” he confides, saying, “I was so awestruck by the amazing landscapes, the wildlife, the ancient forests, indigenous cultures with so much rich heritage and the incredible people I met that I decided to write on those experiences as well.”That is when he turned to cycling once again, he recalls.  
I brought back great experiences and memories from my numerous and strenuous cycling adventures in high altitude Ladakh, the stunning greenery of the Western Ghats in the monsoon or the raw but beautiful terrain of Sikkim,” he extols. By Dhruv Bogra, Published by The Write Place, Pp.Apparently, the boldness and the vision to embark on a multi-year journey that many would consider epic found seed on a backpacking expedition in Alaska in 2015.”But, as it often happens, the road less travelled took him somewhere else. The cross-country solo ride from the Arctic to the Andes spanned 14 months (around 400 days) and won him recognition for being the first Indian to cycle from Deadhorse to Panama City.

China wants NEVs - which also include hybrids, plug-in hybrids and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles - to account for a fifth of auto sales by 2025 compared with 5 per cent now. Batteries jointly produced by Tesla and Panasonic Corp substitute manganese with aluminium and use less cobalt than NMC 811. Tesla declined to comment.In real-world conditions, all-electric cars can sometimes fall far short of advertised ranges, car engineers say. NMC 811 also delivers more energy density, meaning batteries will cost and weigh less. Toward the end of the trip, he shut off the air conditioner and audio system to preserve power.Firms such as China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL), BYD Co Ltd and South Korea’s SK Innovation Co Ltd are developing NMC 811 technology. The statement did not address Nio’s advertising of 335 km on a single full charge.Despite being billed as capable of going 335 km on a single full charge, the ES8 didn’t get anywhere near that when driving on freeways at speeds above 100 km per hour (60mph).Longer-term efforts to improve batteries are solid state batteries, where the liquid or gel-form electrolyte in a lithium-ion battery is replaced with a solid.Advances in recharging are also key to making electric vehicles mainstream.Toyota Motor Corp, which does not have a pure EV on the market currently, says it is concerned about battery durability.“There are a lot of limitations to solid state drive.For most automakers, battery cells cost around USD 200/kWh, the engineers said, although costs for Tesla Inc are believed to be around USD 150/kWh, partly due to its much greater scale of production.it will be very difficult to adopt the technology in the automotive applications used by the general public,” said YS Yoon, president of SK Innovation’s battery business.TE Connectivity is working with automakers to cut charging time to as little as 5 minutes and Chief Technology Officer Alan Amici say that goal may be attained in five years. Battery capacity can drop by half over 5-10 years - the reason for low EV resale values, said Shigeki Terashi, executive vice president in charge of Toyota’s EV strategy.“We had to recharge the car once and drove with a high level of anxiety throughout, constantly having to keep an eye on the range meter,” the 44-year-old manager of a property firm said.Less cobalt and more nickel increase the risk that a battery cell will catch fire - a problem still being worked on. Even so, South Korean battery makers say the next generation of batteries due in three years or so will cost much less and offer much greater driving ranges.Many in the industry believe the technology is at least a decade away from mass-market commercial use.“Falling EV battery capacity is not a major issue in China now because sales there have only recently begun, but in time this problem will likely become more evident,” he told Reuters in an interview.Asked to comment on Wang’s experience, Nio Inc said in an e-mailed statement the ES8 can travel more than 200 km when constantly driven at a 100 km per hour and that battery swap stations are available for quick recharging.The problem adds to drawbacks which have hindered wider acceptance - EVs have shorter driving ranges than gasoline vehicles anyway, are more expensive and take a long time to recharge.ST All-electric cars can sometimes fall far short of advertised ranges, car engineers say..Most EVs can get a partial charge in less than half an hour, although several models due out in the next year can get close to a full charge in 20 minutes.Ouyang cited a reduction in battery costs to USD 100 per kilowatt hours from USD 150-USD 200 currently and a planned tightening of emissions rules in China which will make gasoline vehicles there more expensive.To cut costs, firms are working on slashing the use of cobalt, the most expensive part of lithium-ion batteries. He and his wife have since bought a Lexus NX300h gasoline-electric SUV.It uses 80 per cent nickel, 10 per cent manganese, 10 per cent cobalt, while a conventional lithium-ion battery uses 60 per cent nickel, 20 per cent manganese and 20 per cent cobalt.The engineer was one of five interviewed by Reuters for this article who believe it will take a decade before battery EVs achieve cost and China electric fat bicycle suppliers performance parity with gasoline cars. Most were not authorised to speak to media and declined to identified when describing the shortcomings of EV technology. That could help double a battery’s energy density.China, Europe and the US state of California have set ambitious requirements for automakers to dramatically increase EV sales over the next 5-10 years, but those goals are at risk unless EVs can come close to matching gasoline engine cars in cost and ease of use.It took one 330 kilometre trip from Chongqing to Chengdu in his Nio ES8, a seven-seater all-electric SUV, for its owner Wang Haichun to be consumed with buyer’s remorse.“That’s the holy grail,” says consultant Jon Bereisa, a former GM engineering director who spearheaded much of the automaker’s early lithium-ion battery development. That’s particularly so when driving at length on freeways or hilly terrain and in hot or cold weather.  
Bereisa thinks battery costs could achieve parity with gasoline cars by the late 2020s but his verdict on fast fueling parity is “maybe never”.”So unhappy was Wang, who paid 481,000 yuan (USD 71,700) for the vehicle, he sold it.“Sure, there’s an EV boom but hybrids and plug-in hybrids will be needed as bridging technologies,” he said.That’s because the investment to improve battery quality needs to be factored in, while the cars also need sophisticated battery management systems to prevent overheating and overcharging - adding thousands of dollars to their cost.But pressure to deliver parity will only grow as China rolls back subsidies while setting quotas for sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs).“It’s physics,” he said, adding that to charge an EV with the same amount of energy in the same amount of time as a gasoline car, you’d need a charger powerful “enough to run a small city”.end-ofTags: electric car, battery, china, electric vehicle. A big obstacle is heated, which increases resistance and in turn, reduces the current.But others in the EV industry are less optimistic.Those making that prediction include Ouyang Minggao, executive vice president of the EV100 forum, a think tank which is widely seen as the de facto voice of government policy.In China, the country most aggressively pursuing the adoption of EVs and home to the world’s largest auto market, some of the industry’s biggest names believe pure battery electric cars will be as cheap as gasoline counterparts by 2025.But the engineers who spoke with Reuter39;s caution that even if battery unit costs are brought down to USD 100/kWh, this would not necessarily translate into a steep decline in vehicle costs. We believe that around 2025, the price of pure electric vehicles will achieve a big break.through,” he said in a speech in January. But that’s naive and all automaker engineers would agree with me,” said a veteran EV engineer at Honda Motor Co.But others are sceptical.“I wouldn’t want to do that kind of trip again – ever.Others are developing similar technologies with slightly different ratios.Despite being billed as capable of going 335 km on a single full charge, the ES8 didn’t get anywhere near that when driving on freeways at speeds above 100 km per hour (60mph), he said, adding that after 180 km, there was only 50 km of range left.“The turning point is coming.“Chinese policymakers think EVs will become more like conventional gasoline cars as early as 2025

                                                                      Company will conduct a study to understand more about consumer insights on electric vehicles.The company, which plans to launch its first EV in India by 2020, also said it will conduct a study to find consumer insights to prepare for the journey.China electric bike company So what kind of government support, policy is required needs to be worked out.4 million will be electric and 56. On the future of conventional internal combustion (IC) engine vehicles, he said it will continue to grow.When asked about MSI's EV launch plans, he Bhargava said the first one will hit the market by 2020 and the company will also set up charging stations."I think it will be required. We need to keep that in mind.As electric vehicles are a new development for the Indian auto industry it would be difficult to say in details how much government support would be needed, he added..Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) Chairman R C Bhargava said affordability is a major challenge that EVs will face and for them to be successful, focus has to be on manufacturing of batteries and other components within the country to bring down cost."So, conventional cars will continue to be four times that of electrics," he added. How to make small cars electrified and affordable "I think this is one of the challenges which we will have to face because making an affordable large car is different from making an affordable small car.The aim of the study would be to find out as to what is the ground reality, where people park their cars and charging infrastructure and what is their thinking about EVs, he said.                                                         Government has set eyes on 100 per cent EVs for public mobility and 40 per cent electric for personal mobility by 2030."It will gauge what average consumer thinks about EVs."Before that I can't really say with any kind of confidence that this the kind of government intervention is required," Bhargava said.                     end-of New Delhi.Stressing on the need for cost of electric cars to be within the reach of consumers, he said, "75 per cent of cars are small cars. My gut feeling is that yes, some kind of intervention would be required but I don't know to what extent," he told reporters when asked if government incentives would be needed to support electric vehicles transition in India.                                                    New Delhi: India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki said on Thursday that government incentives will be needed to make electric vehicles (EVs) affordable as the country moves towards the eco-friendly solution for mobility.
We will start it within two to three weeks and by about end of February we would have some authentic basis to answer queries on EVs," Bhargava said. This survey is going to provide us the first reliable data from the ground.The company will conduct a study to understand more about consumer insights on electric vehicles, which will also help in estimating how much of government support will be needed, he said.6 million will be IC vehicles, he said."The government has set eyes on 100 per cent EVs for public mobility and 40 per cent electric for personal mobility by 2030. In a white paper submitted to the government, auto industry body SIAM had proposed 40 per cent of all new vehicles sold in the country to be electric by 2030 and 100 per cent by 2047..The company has done an assessment, assuming an annual growth rate of 8 per cent between now and 2030, that 71 million cars will be sold, of which 14

The government is currently scaling up its efforts by revising the FAME scheme and coming up with a new version to push the promotion of EVs THE ASIAN AGE. The move towards the electric mobility space cannot be successful unless consumers are convinced about the benefits of a sustainable mobility transition. Ecomark is a market instrument which empowers consumers to push industry to produce environmentally friendlier goods and services.                                                         In order to overcome the inertia and motivate consumers to opt for electric vehicles, both the Union and state governments are considering numerous options to prepare the industry for this mass transition towards EVs.93 crore.Thus, before the government continues to implement its master plan, there is one big question it has to answer first: Will consumers bite? Consumers’ willingness to purchase is the most important factor for the transition towards and mass adoption of electric vehicles. This sector has considerable potential for reducing energy use and mitigating its impact on climate change.However, consumers’ willingness to purchase still remains a rather grey area. Although most of the automobile manufacturers in India have pledged to move towards electric mobility, at the moment there are only about ten electric/hybrid car variants available in the market, compared to 54 in the US and over 100 in China.In order to overcome the inertia and motivate consumers to opt for electric vehicles, both the Union and state governments are considering numerous options to prepare the industry for this mass transition towards EVs. | PRADEEP S. However, catapulting this transition from fossil fuel-based towards electric-based transport systems will also require altering the mobility-related consumer behaviour. Yet this interest has not been translated into any concrete action. India’s dream of a climate-friendly future hinges ultimately on its consumers, who need to lead the transition. MEHTA AND SAMIR BHATTACHARYA               Published:  Oct 30, 2018, 5:12 am IST             Updated:  Oct 30, 2018, 5:12 am IST                                                                                 According to the World Health Organisation, 14 of the planet’s 15 most polluted cities are in India.In several market surveys, Indians have expressed their interest in buying EVs. The transport sector accounts for about 90 per cent of the GHG emissions and consumes about 15 per cent of total energy, mostly sourced from coal, diesel and petroleum. Thus, while the government needs to keep playing the role of being the driving force in its early stages, mere doling out of subsidies without considering these dynamics will not suffice. Hence, it is crucial to understand the purchasing behaviour to predict the variables which will influence the willingness of consumers and inform policymakers and businesses alike. It is also the lack of public awareness concerning the importance of shifting to a eco-friendly transportation model and its associated benefits. In the absence of a clear government policy nudge, the sluggish move towards electric mobility is being driven only by personal choice and the concurrent rise of oil prices in the international market.Be that as it may, even this humongous effort may not suffice for a substantial transition to electric mobility. A range of non-technical and economic factors such as the symbolism of EV purchase, environmental prioritisation and so on can be particularly important to EV consumers. Further, a grant of `280 crore has been sanctioned for nearly 500 electric buses in nine major cities in the country. Such labels are quite popular in many developed countries of the world and are slowly entering developing countries as well. Fringe benefits such as green number plates, and a deduction in toll and parking charges are being explored and expected to be implemented soon.Albeit, the biggest challenge for the mass China mid drive electric bike manufacturers adoption of EVs isn’t only the lack of adequate charging infrastructure, range anxiety (mileage between each charge) and the higher initial cost compared to fossil fuel variants.According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 14 of the planet’s 15 most polluted cities are in India.One way forward is to develop a standard for EVs under the environment ministry’s Ecomark, which is now being rejuvenated. It has been providing substantial support in that endeavour. However, the government’s active stance will not produce the desired results unless it can actually convince consumers to use it. Despite the large amount of subsidy during FAME-I, the uptake of electric vehicles, especially among private car owners, still remains abysmally low. FAME-II will have a much bigger corpus of `9,300 crore for five years.                    end-of                Tags: electric vehicles, world health organisation. The government is also considering liberalising import norms by removing the restrictions on price and engine capacities, as well as the mandatory local testing conditions to encourage more global players. The policy was extended till the end of September 2018.In March 2015, the government had launched the FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles) scheme with the objective of promoting the purchase and usage of electric vehicles in the country. In terms of the charging infrastructure, we are seeing the choked petrol pumps dispensing CNG. While the upfront cost remains the major impediment towards sustainable mobility transition, Indian consumers at the micro level are also influenced by the lack of choices in the EV market.                                                    In order to reduce rising oil imports and greenhouse gas emissions, the government of India is considering a 30 per cent penetration of electric vehicles (EVs) across two-wheelers and four-wheelers throughout the country by 2030.Consumers’ willingness to purchase EVs can be affected by several factors which include internal factors such as demographics, social influence, consumers’ personal choices, etc, as well as external factors such as performance, efficiency, service delivery, etc. Recently, the government slashed the GST charges for electric batteries. Under this scheme, the government has given financial support for electric or hybrid vehicles worth Rs 256