Scamper techniques - Eletric Vehicles

INTRODUCTION

The Indian Electric Vehicle (EV) Market is divided into three categories: passenger cars and commercial vehicles, as well as two- and three-wheelers. Electric Vehicles (EVs) are becoming a promising conduit for improving air quality, energy security, and economic opportunity in India, thanks to the tremendous growth of the automobile sector.

The Indian government recognizes the need to investigate sustainable mobility options in order to reduce reliance on imported energy sources, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and offset negative transportation effects such as global warming. Even if the adoption of electric vehicles has begun, people continue to rely on fossil fuel-powered automobiles. However, as compared to conventional fossil-fueled vehicles, EVs face issues in terms of life cycle assessment (LCA), charging, and driving range.

Electric vehicle manufacture emits 59 percent more CO2 than conventional vehicle production. On a tank-to-wheel basis, the ICEV emits 120 g/km of CO2, however this rises to 170–180 g/km when viewed through the lens of the LCA. While EVs emit zero CO2 from tank to wheel, we estimate that the average CO2 is measured across a vehicle's life cycle rather than over a single vehicle.

The Indian Electric Vehicle Market was worth USD 5 billion in 2020, and it is predicted to grow to USD 47 billion by 2026, with a CAGR of more than 44% over the forecast period (2021-2026). The COVID-19 epidemic has had an influence on the Indian electric vehicle market, causing supply chain disruptions and the closure of manufacturing units as a result of ongoing lockdowns and travel restrictions across the country.

In India, however, the electric vehicle (EV) sector is still in its infancy. Due to several government programmes and policies, it is predicted to expand at a considerably quicker rate during the forecast period.

Problem Statement-

India plans to become a major player in the global EV market and has a vision of going 100% electric in the automobile sector. There is no doubt, that India has developed itself in this regard by a major extent than what it used to be 5 or 6 years ago. There are numerous benefits of owning an electric vehicle- Zero fuel cost, contributing to saving the environment, lower cost of maintenance, these cars should be selling like in huge numbers, right?
Although the sales figures of EV in the Indian market would suggest otherwise. There are quite a few issues which prove to be hindrances in India’s EV mission and also might be the reason why EVs are not achieving the desired sales figures.
Below mentioned are a few challenges and obstacles EVs face-

1.     Perception of consumers- In what ways a consumer looks at a product plays a pivotal role in how that product is going to sell. If the consumer is not aware or is not having the knowledge of a product, it can drastically affect the sales. The same thing is happening with EVs, where consumers for so many years have used ICE cars, they lack the knowledge and motivation to shift to a completely new form of a vehicle. Moreover, the lack of infrastructure, increased prices over ICE cars etc just add to the negative perception of EV vehicles.

2.     Charging Infrastructure- Further adding to the obstacles are the charging situation of EVs in our country. Majority of the EV manufacturers in India do not have their own charging network nor there are any major private companies who have come forward to develop the same. Moreover, the chargers provided by EV manufacturers are not compatible with the wall sockets that we have in our homes, hence we can’t charge the vehicle in our homes or offices. Things start to go even worse when we compare how many Gas stations (petrol/diesel pumps) we have in comparison to EV charging zones. For example- In Kolkata, in a 10Km radius there are approximately 10-15 Gas stations and only 2-3 EV charging points.

3.     High Initial Cost- One of the major factors that consumers look at while making a purchase is the product’s price. A cheaper option will always be the first choice for majority of the consumers irrespective of the running costs. Even though the running costs of EVs are much lower than ICE cars, the initial cost is what keeps buyers away from Electric vehicles. The reason for the high costs is the Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries which are used in these cars. India has a very scarce availability of Li-ion batteries and has to import them at a very high cost mainly from China. Another reason for the high prices is the import taxes which cause a major jump in CBU (Complete Built Unit) electric vehicles. There is a 60-100% import duty plus a 10% welfare surcharge which is imposed on imported EVs in India and as a result the initial prices skyrocket.

4.     Battery range of EVs- Where an ICE vehicle can go from 300-700Kms on a full tank of fuel, most EVs can do a range of 150-350Kms on a single charge. Combining an already low range with the current charging infrastructure only makes things worse. This majorly limits the actual usability of a vehicle, where the consumers would have to constantly worry about the vehicle running out of battery and them getting stranded.

5.     High Charging times- There are mainly three types of charging solutions, Level-1, Level-2 and DC Fast charge. Most charging stations in India support level-1 and level-2 charging with very few DC fast charging solution available. A level-1 charger supports up to 120Volts which would take approximately 8-9 hours to charge an electric vehicle that too for a range of only 100-140Kms. A 240V charger (Level-2) will do the same 100-140Kms in about 5 hours. Moreover, if an EV supports up to 120Volts of charging it is not guaranteed that the vehicle will charge at 120Volts, it can even clock-out at 50Volts meaning even higher time required to charge the car.

6.     How much environment are we really saving- One of the biggest selling points of electric vehicles is them being environmentally friendly. But if we really think about it, EV batteries requires a lot rarer raw materials than an ICE engine. To produce an EV battery the raw materials required are lithium, nickel, magnesium, phosphate etc all of which require mining and are rare earth materials. In comparison an ICE car’s engine all that is required are aluminium, copper and steel. There is no doubt that ICE cars using petrol/diesel engines will produce more pollution than an Electric vehicle, but when we consider all of the mining that is required to actually produce a single battery for an EV, the whole “We are contributing to save the environment” statement doesn’t sound that impactful or Nobel anymore.

Design statement- Design statement or thinking believes that the people who face problems are the ones who hold the key to their problem’s answer. Design statement is human-centered problem-solving tool which emphasize on Empathy, Collaboration, Co-creation and Stakeholder feedback to unlock creativity and innovation, which devises feasible and viable big Idea.

To develop the design of Electric Vehicle, every company is need to do divergent thinking which means they have to think out of the box in order to process any electric vehicle. The purpose of its to generate pool of ideas. So, they are using one thinking techniques called as SCAMPER. The full form of scamper is Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, put to another use, Eliminate and Reverse.

1.     Substitute- Its like a concept, product, process or services, etc. which we could replace with another thing in order to see the improvements of result that whether it might be effective or not.

When we looked at the automotive sector that the carbon produced by internal combustion engines (ICEs) was endangering the humanity and planet as a species. This will help us to test that which alternative is better. Even its go for greenery which means environment friendly when we use the electric vehicle as a substitute.

As per our assignment, when we talk about the substitute of problem statements - electric vehicles battery range, then we having a substitute available. Previously company install Lithium-ion batteries which can run up to 150-200 km. Now, they make a substitute of Lithium-Sulfur batteries in EV’s that when car run on the road, battery gets charge over it.  So, they can run more than expectation around 300-400 km within single charge.

Second alternative, may be that the body of vehicle is made-up of some solar gadgets in order to charge battery by using solar energy.

 

When we talk about the infrastructure scarcity of ev’s charging station. They having a substitute like a road roller gadget which is attach to the charging units of car which work, when human being is run on the roller their energy is store in car battery. The equipment is design that if we run one km on roller, it charges 3% of battery which is efficient to run car up to 3-4 km.

For high charging times- the substitute that we can use double panel charger which help to charge the battery fast by providing full volt of electricity.

When we take the substitute for the perception of consumers, they are many types of vehicles available in market like gasoline vehicles which consume petrol and diesel, Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles, Hydrogen Vehicle, etc. again it depends upon the knowledge and awareness of consumer.

 

2.     Combine: The combine technique tends to analyze the possibility of merging two ideas, stages of the process or product in one single more efficient output. Sometime in many cases, combining of two innovative ideas can lead to a new technology or product which leads to market strength.

As per assignment electric vehicles having many combined things, even some items which combined in batteries like Zin-ion which help the battery to boost more energy, auto moisture control equipment for batteries, they can also combine cooling kits for EV Li-on battery to regulated the temperature. For Hybrid battery they used more than two electrodes in an electrolyte solution which help to charge faster.

 

3.     Adapt: Adapt refers to a brainstorming discussion that aims to adjust or tweak product or service for a better output. Adaption of new technology is one of the efficient techniques to solve old/new problems through enhancing the existing system.

Now onwards, many EV company is going to adapt the body from plastic bottle which is present in sea or ocean for long period of time because this material already faced the effects of different climatic condition like high or low degree temperature, rainy, etc. so, company is going for it to manufacture the body frame from this hybrid battery. As, we all know that hybrid battery stores a lot of energy in it. If in case it leaks happens, it damages a lot. In the end, they use ocean waste into manufacture the body of highly compactable battery which even reduce the cost of raw material as some extend anyhow.

 

4.     Modify: The modify technique refers to changing the process in a way that unleashes more innovative capabilities or solves problems.

Electric vehicle is already a modify product from gasoline vehicle. But many engineer is modify the electric vehicle at many extend like they installed Lithium-Ion Battery systems which is most popular for portable application of its high power and energy density. This modification also named as Newman model for latest batteries.

 

5.     Put to another use: This technique concerns how to put the current product or process in another purpose or how to use the existing product to solve problems.

By the use of electric vehicle, we can cook our food by the use of induction by taking power from highly compactable powerful battery, we can use it like an invertor for home and many more.

 

6.     Eliminate: As the name implies, this technique aims to identify the parts of the process that can be eliminated to improve the process product or service.

Taking advantage of the fact that electric vehicles need less routine maintenance than ICE cars, electric vehicles decided that they usual arrange the assembling of vehicles in a franchise dealer network in order to reducing costs and grab the market fast. When we talk about Lead- Acid battery they maintenance cost is very low, as we have to fill it up with distilled water only. And company claim upto 1.5 lakh km a battery can use in the vehicles for around 10 years. If in case some fault is come in battery, there will be a panel fault which replace and charges up to Rs. 5000 (approx.) for one panel. In batteries there are 30 panels.

 

7.     Reverse: Finally, the reverse or rearrange technique aims to explore the innovative potential when changing the order of the process in the production line.

For electric vehicle company instead of selling the product for all the days in a month, can they sell only for first ten days in a month.

They feature unconventional falcon wing rear passenger doors which not only lift up like a gull-wing door but also fold near the middle which makes it possible open in tight proximity to walls and other vehicles.