EV adoption likely to stem foreign exchange outgo on oil imports

The sharp increase in imported fuel prices could well speed up the day when the overall foreign exchange outflow on an electric car powered by a 30 kWh lithium ion battery will be equal to, or below, that of an internal combustion engines (ICE) car of the same model.

The foreign exchange outflow has two elements. The imported cost for manufacturing  an electric car is very high compared to a ICE-powered model. The second element is the operating  cost of  running the vehicle by using  imported  fossil fuels through  the  entire life cycle of an  ICE-powered car which is assumed to