EV registrations in Maharashtra register 153% rise in one year
Maharashtra saw a 153% rise in new electric vehicle registrations in the first nine months on the current financial year. Mumbai recorded a growth of 112% in the same period.
Compared to 9,415 e-vehicles registered in 2020-21, the number of registrations skyrocketed to 23,786 in just nine months of 2021-22 (April 1 to December 27 this year).
The total e-vehicles registered so far in Maharashtra is 57,386 and there are indications that it will cross a lakh-mark in a few months, officials said.
Energy costs soar in 2021
Energy costs soared in 2021, with gas, oil, coal, electricity and carbon all shooting higher primarily because of a resurgence in geopolitical tensions between producers and consumers.
The most spectacular surge was that of Europe’s reference gas price, Dutch TTF, which hit 187.78 euros per megawatt hour in December — 10 times higher compared with the start of the year. The spike was fuelled by geopolitical tensions surrounding Russia, which supplies one third of Europe’s gas.
Crude oil prices rocketed also in 2021, gaining more than 50 percent as demand recovered and oil producing nations led by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia modestly boosted supplies.
Soaring gas and oil prices have pushed up the cost of coal, one of the most polluting fossil fuels, at a time when countries are under pressure to increasingly switch to cleaner energy sources.
This helped to push up European carbon prices, which reached above 90 euros per tonne for the first time in December, around three times the level at the start of the year.
The surge in energy prices is fuelling high inflation worries as soaring costs badly affect businesses and consumers globally.