Go electric-2

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SO, WHO NEEDS ECONOMY?
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Now back to the story about the group of young techies writing to the then President of India APJ Abdul Kalam about the economy angle of automobiles. They wondered why the Government was not offering the typical ‘carrot and the stick’ persuasion to India’s leading auto majors to come up with fuel-efficient designs that wouldn’t tax the economy and the common man too much. The story goes that the great man himself wrote to most of the giants of Indian auto industry, but the reply that he got was not very encouraging. They were not interested in an economy car; it just wouldn’t sell. They played the marketing ad game with ‘performance’ figures. It is time we asked ourselves what difference it made to the average user if one car could reach 0-60 in 3 seconds flat and another took maybe 3.8 seconds. APJ, the clear-minded techie with a vision, was flummoxed by the illogical attitude of the auto companies, and the story goes on to say how he confided his dissatisfaction with their attitude to many.

For all that we know this could be an apocryphal story invented by a fertile mind or two. But it is equally possible that it is true. Otherwise how could we accept the ‘inability’ of the auto engineers to come up with an economical engine? They have over the years put in so many innovations including a powerful computer into the car that manages the engine so well that it could send the machine into orbit if you floor the pedal with some energy and enthusiasm. But they don’t know yet how to transport a few people weighing hardly 200 kg a few kilometres without burning up a couple of litres of precious, polluting fossil fuels. ??? Shame...

As lay persons, all we need to do is to take a look from the 'outside'. But a careful and long look at engines. A couple of decades back the engines that powered lawnmowers and the outboard engines of boats were small in form factor. But they were heavy and complex, and noisy, though ‘muffled’ into comparative silence. A bit later you could get a chain saw with a petrol engine; but you had to be well-muscled to handle that.

Today look at what’s on offer. The average lawn mower engine is light and silent and needs just a sip of fuel. The chain saw and other petrol-engined power tools are light and silent. In India if you want to assess the situation, the best bet is to look at the electricity generators. Ten-fifteen years back the average kilowatt gen-set was a heavy, noisy behemoth that needed the attentions of a couple of musclemen to get it going. Not any longer. Today the same machine is smaller than a milk crate and has been ‘civilized’ into quiet behaviour. And the daintiest of ladies could 'handle' it, literally!

How this transformation has happened? Simple. If they couldn’t compete with the lighter electric equivalents, people wouldn’t buy them. So the manufacturers have gone and made them as light and as silent as the best of the electrics—almost—and, in addition, offered the ‘portability’ and 'freedom' that typical tethered or battery-powered electrics didn’t have. Ah, so the engineers know how to design and build good, small, economic engines with performance second to none?? Really! But then why this evolution hasn’t happened in the auto industry? Partly it is us the consumers who are at fault, but chiefly the blame can be laid squarely at the door of the automakers, in my humble opinion.
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MILEAGE, ANYBODY....??
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Indian ethos and requirements are a unique blend. We are a frugal people and generally very civilized too, I have observed. The average Indian buys a vehicle because of a dire need. Anybody who was cursed with depending on public transportation knows the true meaning of the 'yearning' to own a vehicle of one's own. Usually it is a humble two-wheeler. And what is the first criterion of choice? Mileage, my dear sir! No one knows that better than Hero Honda who sold their CD-100 in their millions, and then, capitalizing on the success of the engine, slapped the same engine onto a score of other models and went on selling a few more millions, and is still raking in the money from selling those 'old tech' bikes. So what does it tell us? The average user is interested in getting from A to B with the least hassle and the least expense, and if he could do that in a 'green manner', well, all the better!

The mindset is not much different in the car sector too. And anybody who has 'navigated' the tortuous city streets on a two-wheeler with the 'missus' sitting side-saddle behind, adroitly balancing the baby and the bags, with the elder kid sitting on the fuel tank blocking the rider's view, all the while praying for 'balance' in the midst of the mayhem that is called 'traffic' and when suddenly you are drenched in a shower, wife and kids and the bags and all... well, he knows the true meaning of the 'yearning' for a covered, four-wheeled vehicle. ( It beats me why the popular three-wheeled wonder has not stepped in as the family car. Maybe it has got something to do with 'attitude'.)

And here again, the owner is not bothered about 'performance' counted in fractions of seconds etc. Rather the poor soul wishes to get from A to B in comparative comfort and the least possible expense. 'Style' is a 'me too' factor. I have polled hundreds of drivers and you won’t believe this. The 'well-heeled dude' who has plunked down about three to four times more money than the average 'aam aadmi' for his 'all-singing, all-whistling wonder on wheels' admits with a wry face that the "mileage is very poor, but hey, that doesn't matter, gimme performance any day"!! But I see him/her often parking the car safely somewhere and jumping into an 'auto' (in India, a ubiquitous three-wheeled taxi) because that happens to be cheaper!

So there IS a market for fuel-efficient vehicles, and the companies are not going to lose their marbles if they offer one... or two, or three models. Has anybody bothered to calculate how much of our GDP is being siphoned off and 'vapourized' by the auto industry? A pretty pile, I guess. And the damage to the environment? Who is going to pay for that, ultimately?

Americans ushered in the 'urban dream' centred around the automobile, but now it has turned into a regular nightmare-- as we are slowly but surely discovering, as we wait indefinitely in the gridlocked, bumper-to-bumper 'traffic' of our cities and towns that doesn’t even crawl, breathing the sweet aroma of 'progress'. Why are we locked into this inescapable Kafkaesque nightmare? Chiefly because the automakers do not want to offer us viable alternatives. They have their reasons, whatever they might be. But our experience tells us that like most of the things that we see in this world, if you look closely it will ultimately lead us to their purse strings. Money is perhaps the most powerful reason in this world. And the way some people act here, it looks as if it is sure to be so in the next world too!!

Before we can convince others, we have to be convinced ourselves. So let us examine the situation, the technology and the possibilities in a clear-headed way with an unbiased eye-- and in a practical manner.
So that is what I intend to do next.
Write in and tell me how we are going. And be free with your comments and your own experience, your ideas and opinions.
No matter if you don't tell me when I am right; but when I am wrong, DO tell me. Thanks in advance!
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(more to follow)