Daily PIB Analysis For UPSC/IAS | Free PDF Download- 2nd and 3rd November 2018

EVs & Charging Stations

• • 1908, Ford started selling Model T.
  • Model T played a very important role in development of petrol pumps in USA.
  • By 1912, this system had largely given way to pumps set up on sidewalks by small entrepreneurs, who bought fuel from a wholesaler.
  • They used nozzles made to fit the opening of the Model T’s tank, which created an ad hoc standardization, ensuring that all nozzles and all fuel tanks were interoperable.
  • Big companies, like the major oil producers like Texaco and Shell and Esso—muscled these small businessmen aside and began the process of establishing national chains of gas stations, building the stand-alone stations we’re now so familiar with.

• • Lesson learnt by oil producers: more cars that were on the road, the more oil they could sell—and the more fuel stations a driver could find, the more people would feel comfortable buying that first car.
  • According to the 2007 book “Fill ’Er Up: The Great American Gas Station,” between 1909 and 1918, the number of cars on American roads increased from 312,000 to 6.2 million.
  • Let us compare this evolution with the current state of play for electric vehicle chargers.
  • One difference is that the auto, even in its most primitive early 20th century form, was so vast an improvement over horse and buggies that everybody was desperate to buy one.
  • In the early years, the gas station industry was racing to keep up with the rapidly growing auto industry.
  • The dynamic of the electric car/recharging industries is almost the opposite.
  • A lot of people like the idea of driving an environmentally friendly vehicle, but in transportation terms, it is not an absolute necessity.
  • Many people—most people—will likely hold back until they are convinced the infrastructure is in place to allow a driver to go anywhere without running out of juice.
  • Thus, if the electric car industry is to succeed the way it hopes, the charging industry has to lead, not follow.
  • A second issue is standardization.
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  • Tesla claims that its network of 1,359 charging stations “can get you anywhere you want to go.”
  • But in a country with 115,000 gas stations, that’s not close to being enough.
  • Chris Nelder of the Rocky Mountain Institute, an expert on the EV industry, said that most of the other companies, like Electrify America, a division of Volkswagen AG, are building stations that are compatible with any electric car aside from Tesla.
  • For now at least, it won’t be easy finding them: Each company has a different app showing its locations, so the owner of an EV has to check five or six apps to find the nearest station.
  • Nelder thinks that the electric charging industry would be much better off if it followed the example of gas stations. The producer of the gasoline—the oil companies—wound up being the retailer as well.
  • They had a huge incentive and plenty of money to create a national infrastructure.
  • When the fuel is electricity, the producers are the utility companies.
  • If they were allowed to build retail charging stations—there’s a lot of resistance within the industry— their entry into the market would greatly accelerate the infrastructure needed to “normalize” the electric car.
  • The vast majority of trips do not require any recharging, especially as battery technology improves.

• That’s true. But it’s also true that car owners want to know that they can drive a long distance if they want to, even if they don’t do it very often.
• Without that confidence, “range anxiety,” as it’s called, will prevent EVs from becoming a commonplace purchase.
• For all their difference, there is one crucial similarity between the rise of gas stations and the coming evolution of EV stations. A century ago, the car industry had to have a national network of gas stations before it could truly thrive.
• Today, the electric car is in the same position: Without a national network of EV charging stations— stations that any car owner can use, no matter which brand— electric cars will never come close to replacing combustion engines.

PMO

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the support and outreach programme for micro, small and medium enterprises in New Delhi.
• Announcing a series of measures for helping this sector, Mr Modi said, loans of up to one crore rupees will now be sanctioned in 59-minutes.
• The Prime Minister said, that every GST registered Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise, MSME, will be given a rebate of 2 percent interest on the amount of a new loan or incremental loan up to one crore rupees.
• Mr. Modi announced that the government has also decided to increase interest subvention on pre and post shipment credit for exports by MSMEs from 3 per cent to 5 per cent.
• Prime Minister said, due to reforms and landmark decisions of the Government, doing business in India has become very easy today and the recent World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Ranking, is a proof of it.
• Mr. Modi added, India has earned the status of Economic Powerhouse because of the MSME sector.
• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, 6.5 crore MSME units in India are providing employment to 11 crore people.
• He said, India will continue as the fastest growing economy in the coming years and size of the economy will grow further.

World Bank

• President of World Bank, Jim Yong Kim today congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for India’s historic rise in the Ease of Doing Business rankings.
• In a telephonic call to Mr Modi, the World Bank President said, it is remarkable that a nation of over 1.25 billion people has achieved a rise of 65 ranks in a short period of four years.
• The Prime Minister thanked the World Bank President, for the Bank’s continued guidance and support in India’s efforts to improve ease of doing business.

 Vice President’s Secretariat

• The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has welcomed the President of Botswana’s decision to join International Solar Alliance.
• Appreciating India’s contribution to renewal energy, the President of Botswana conveyed the decision to join the International Solar Alliance.
• This was welcomed as a major step forward towards building together a sustainable future.
• India and Zimbabwe have signed 6 agreements in various fields including Mining, Visa waiver, Broadcasting and Culture.
• India will extend Line of credits of more than 350 million US Dollars to Zimbabwe for two power projects and a drinking water project.
• The Vice President was in Harare on the second leg of his three-nation Africa visit to Botswana, Zimbabwe and Malawi.

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