EVnomics - India's smartest EV tool

2023

EVnomics – India’s smartest EV tool

Entry type: Single project

Country/area: India

Publishing organisation: India Today Group

Organisation size: Big

Publication date: 2022-12-16

Language: English

Authors: Piyush Aggarwal, Ankit Kumar, Surbhi Sonway

Biography:

Piyush Aggarwal works with the data unit of the India Today TV and focuses on data-driven journalism and uses code to tell stories. He likes building bots to automate mundane tasks. He is a computer science graduate and the domain of computational/data-journalism fascinates him.

Ankit Kumar works with the Special Investigation Team (SIT) and OSINT (Open Source Investigations) team of India Today TV. InfoSec, Disinformation, OSINT, IMINT, GEOINT, FININT, TECHINT and CYBINT are his métier.

Surbhi Sonway is a Communication Designer majoring in Visual Communication. She has a keen interest in the field of data visualization.

Project description:

Consumers often shy away from buying electric vehicles (EVs) because EVs cost more than fuel-based cars. But EVs are cheaper on the road since one doesn’t need to purchase fuel every week. They often wonder how long it will take for that shiny new electric vehicle to pay off its extra cost compared to a petrol/diesel car? Well, this handy free tool, created by Business Today called [EVnomics](https://www.businesstoday.in/electric-vs-non-electric-vehicle-bt-evnomics-best-tool-to-calculate-ownership-cost-of-an-EV), first of its kind, has got you covered. Just enter the cars you want to compare, and your daily running and the EVnomics tool will give you a detailed report on it.

Impact reached:

[EVnomics](https://www.businesstoday.in/electric-vs-non-electric-vehicle-bt-evnomics-best-tool-to-calculate-ownership-cost-of-an-EV) was pushed to production in the month of December 2022. However, in less than a month since its launch we have received positive feedback from our audiences and users of this tool as it fills a much-needed void consumers face while purchasing a car and especially while buying an EV, as it costs more than its fuel-based counterpart.

The easy-to-use, visually appealing interface has been appreciated by many users of the EVnomics tool, as this is one of a kind solution in the Indian automobile industry that helps consumers make a more informed, intelligent, and smart choice while purchasing their favourite car.

Other impacts of EVnomics is the data-driven and transparent approach used in comparing the fuel based cars with their electric counterparts. As it helps the readers with a deeper understanding of the tentative costs, they are likely to incur in future on the car of their choice.

Many users of the tool have also liked the user experience, aesthetics and gamification used to present data and information to make complex calculations behind the methodology of comparing the two cars more accessible and easy to understand in a form of a race to a much wider audience.

Techniques/technologies used:

Powered by the loaded analytical data covering 940 cars from 31 brands sold in the Indian market, the [EVnomics](https://www.businesstoday.in/electric-vs-non-electric-vehicle-bt-evnomics-best-tool-to-calculate-ownership-cost-of-an-EV) tool is truly interactive and a revolution in India’s digital business news space. Its web interface allows the audience to compare all the available EVs in India with other comparable petrol/diesel car models. It also gives the user an option to choose their estimated daily run. Available on both mobile and desktop versions, the free tool was designed and developed using various tools and technologies as mentioned below.

Design – User interface of the EVnomics is created using the design tool [Figma](https://www.figma.com/login). We have paired interaction and animation to gamify the interface. We have made EVnomics stand out from the generic and created a friendly and inviting environment for the users. With simplified steps, the tool allows users to focus on one feature at a time while featuring helpful and visually pleasing micro animation for new users. We have given our users a colorful and aesthetically harmonious overview making the tool all the more delightful to navigate and meaningful to use.

Development – We used [D3.js](https://d3js.org/) (an open-source JavaScript library for building interactive data visualizations) and the [Angular](https://angular.io/) framework, an open-source web application framework for the development. We also used [Lottie](https://lottiefiles.com/) to integrate different animations and transitions, as it is lightweight, works on any platform, and is easily scalable.

Data – The proprietary data and analytics from our sister publication [Auto Today](https://www.magzter.com/IN/India-Today-Group/Auto-Today/Automotive/) powers the EVnomics tool. Keeping the dynamic nature of the car and fuel prices, we have designed and developed EVnomics with a flexibility to update the backend data of items such as car and fuel prices etc., as and when they are revised in the market.

Context about the project:

When it comes to electric vehicles (EVs) in Indian markets, there are many unknowns. EVs are priced significantly higher than their alternate fuel engine counterparts, and even the servicing and maintenance requirements are very different. The question that every potential new car buyer wants to be answered is – will they EV recoup the extra money spent on the EVs, and if yes, how much time will it take to do so?

Created by [Business Today’s](https://www.businesstoday.in/) Innovista Lab, the BT [EVnomics](https://www.businesstoday.in/electric-vs-non-electric-vehicle-bt-evnomics-best-tool-to-calculate-ownership-cost-of-an-EV) tool is India’s first data-driven authoritative solutions journalism tool that can answer such questions.

It intends to declutter an extremely jumbled marketplace and help consumers make more informed and smart choices. It can also help policymakers understand if the present subsidies and relaxations on EVs are enough to support the general consumer’s preference for green tech over traditional fuel-based cars.

The interactive and responsive design is tailor-made to keep the users engaged, share and re-use the tool multiple times with the cars of their choice.

The unique and custom race interface between a selected fuel-based car and a selected EV stimulates a car race experience while providing a calculative estimation of the cost incurred on fuel/charging and maintenance of both cars by the users in the future.

The tool is powered by the proprietary data and extensive analytics from our sister publication [Auto Today](https://www.magzter.com/IN/India-Today-Group/Auto-Today/Automotive/) , a top leading magazine in India on auto industry.

Apart from the racing stimulation, the ability to edit and change the backend data on car pricing and fuel costs is one of the features incorporated in the tool. This has been done while keeping in view the dynamic nature of the car and fuel prices, which makes the EVnomics an evergreen and more relevant tool with a much longer shelf life.

We did extensive referencing to find relevant examples, online games to put together a smooth user experience in EVnomics. The tool allows a user to first choose a car manufacturer of their choice and a fuel-based car model, then prompts to pick an alternate EV car they plan to compare. Next the user needs to feed in how much distance they typically drive daily, and the EVnomics will do the rest of the calculations.

The web-based solution contains a car race simulation between the chosen EV and fuel-based car, and includes smart placements over the racetrack, pit stops and finish point. The pit stops appearing during the race contain valuable snippets to inform consumers regarding the annual costs incurred on each type of vehicle per year. At the end, the tool gives a timeframe, by when a user will be able to recover the extra money spent on purchasing the EV.

To conclude, we have also incorporated the opinions of the experts in the form of informative nuggets for better understanding of users to help them make informed choices.

What can other journalists learn from this project?

[EVnomics](https://www.businesstoday.in/electric-vs-non-electric-vehicle-bt-evnomics-best-tool-to-calculate-ownership-cost-of-an-EV) is a part of the data-driven solutions journalism. It is powered by the data and analytics of more than 940 cars from 31 manufacturers available with our sister publication [Auto Today](https://www.magzter.com/IN/India-Today-Group/Auto-Today/Automotive/), one of the top leading magazines on Auto industry in India.

EVnomics is India’s first definitive solution that helps the new generation of smart customers examine if their EV would fulfil its promise of being cost effective than its petrol/diesel counterparts and in how much time they would be able to recover the extra money spent on the EV.

With countless electric vehicles coming to the market on a daily basis coupled with bags of promises, the consumers have no way of knowing if the extra money spent on the EVs could be recouped in near future or not. Potential car buyers struggle to calculate how much time it would take to redeem the extra cost spent or premium paid on a particular EV. Keeping the young, tech savvy customers in mind, the EVnomics has an interactive design with a comprehensible methodology. As, the EVnomics comes to the rescue of a disempowered reader by the multiple car options available at their disposal.

It provides a solution to a much-needed problem to already overwhelmed consumers in today’s world. This type of solutions journalism has the potential to empower readers by providing them with much needed information and inspiration to take more informed decision and action in their daily lives.

Rather than simply highlighting the problem, it is the need of the hour to come up with more and more such data and fact/evidence driven journalistic solutions for the readers. As data-driven solutions journalism has the potential to empower readers by providing them with accurate, actionable information about solutions to their otherwise unresolved issues.