Dangerous Dependence
Hapless dependence on China for the supply of components and raw material has the global automobile industry in trouble as China has decided to withhold the supply of rare earth magnet raw material. This is just the beginning, because it is only one raw material we are talking about.
In our past editorials we have discussed the pros and cons of electric cars and what worried us the most was the world’s dependence on China for the supply of more than 50 per cent of batteries and components for all electric vehicles. Imagine the sort of squeeze that they will put and hold the world to ransom.
Most of the European car manufacturers have begun backtracking on their commitment to stopping the manufacture of internal combustion engine (ICE) cars in order to go totally electric. A number of existing electric car owners want to go back to petrol and diesel cars. Even in a small country like England, people are tired of waiting to charge their EV batteries on motorways due to the long queues. If this is the situation in the UK, imagine charging your electric car on our highways where power failure is a daily occurrence.
Last month I happened to be driving on the Hyderabad outer ring road. The quality of the surface was very good; indeed, comparable with European roads. The surface is like a carpet with no undulations, the expansion joints are well aligned, and when you are going over a bridge, your car does not take off even at 120 km/h. The transport ministry should take all the road contractors who have built the Mumbai-Delhi and Mumbai-Nagpur Expressways to Hyderabad and show them how a road should be laid.
EDITOR – ASPI BHATHENA
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