Good morning [%first_name |Dear Reader%],

A few days ago, I took a train to Chennai. As always, the best part was eavesdropping on the small/big talk my fellow passengers made during the short five-hour ride. 

Sitting opposite me in the Shatabdi chair-car compartment were two young men, likely just out of college (because they also discussed their college flings) and into their first jobs. The hot topic that morning was electric vehicles (EV). One of them had bought an electric two-wheeler exactly 51 days ago and driven 1,700 kilometres on it. He spent a few minutes discussing unit economics. 

The second one spoke about how his family was debating the cost of buying an electric Tata Nexon, which was a “whole Rs 10 lakh (US$12,000) more” than its internal combustion engine version. And despite the subsidy, the guy thought he’d not be able to recover the extra investment he needed to make if he were to buy the EV version. 

 I haven’t checked the prices in the market myself, but the larger point I am trying to make is: EV subsidies worldwide are meant to reduce emissions. But the way they are currently designed in many parts of the world, they are probably not benefitting the larger cause, or even the people they should be benefitting.