The road to a greener future is paved with expensive fuel. As India accelerates its electric vehicle (EV) revolution, driven by soaring petrol prices, a quieter, more troubling story is unfolding in the supply chains that connect us to this cleaner dream. For British companies, the warning lights are flashing.
On Delhi’s streets, the change is palpable. Auto-rickshaws hum silently past honking buses. Middle-class families trade their sedans for sleek electric hatchbacks. The government’s push for EV adoption, with subsidies and tax breaks, has made the shift financially sensible. Yet for the millions who work in the shadows of this industry, the transition is not so smooth.
Take the lithium ion battery. Its production requires cobalt, much of it mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo under conditions that activists call modern slavery. The price of green, then, is often paid by those who never see the sunrise over an electric car. Then there is the logistical tango: India’s EV batteries are largely imported, mostly from China. A disruption there, a trade spat, and the entire revolution stalls.
British firms, heavily invested in electric component manufacturing, are feeling the tremors. A senior executive at a UK-based auto parts supplier told me, off the record, that the volatility in raw material prices is ‘unmanageable’. The cost of nickel surged 250% in 2022. Cobalt prices swing wildly. For a British company that must price its products months in advance, this is a nightmare.
But the story on the ground is not just about supply chains. It is about class. In Mumbai, luxury EV showrooms cater to the elite. The truly aspirational model, the Tata Nano of electric cars, has not yet arrived. The common man’s electric scooter is within reach, but the necessary charging infrastructure remains patchy. In poorer neighbourhoods, a black market of modified lead-acid batteries has emerged, cheap but dangerous.
This is the human cost of a revolution. The cultural shift is undeniable: Indians are embracing the idea of clean transport. But the reality of their daily lives, the practicalities of range anxiety and repair costs, often get overlooked. Meanwhile, British companies, once leaders in automotive innovation, risk being left behind if they cannot secure stable supply chains.
The road ahead is electric, but it is bumpy. Society must reckon with the fact that our green future is not equally green for everyone. The true revolution will come when the supply chain is just and the benefits are shared. Until then, we are simply trading one set of problems for another.
