Road ahead for EV adoption in India

India’s national mission for electric mobility as well as faster adoption and manufacturing of electric vehicles(EVs) have been moving at a fast pace in the recent past to achieve its goal. The future of mobility is at a critical point of inflection. Every time oil prices or climate change is on the news, electric vehicles are widely spoken as the right solution. India aims to become a major player in the global electric vehicle market. Several startups in this segment have also come up with their products and technologies alongside the conventional automobile manufacturers. Electric vehicles in India have surged in the last 5 years, but there is still a long way to go for the industry to reach a size-able scale compared to ICE( internal combustion engine) automobiles. 

Let us see a few advantages that an EV brings us. It is a well-known fact that EVs offer  much lower cost of ownership in their life cycle compared to fossil fuel powered vehicles. At times the cost of ownership of an EV is almost as less as 27% than a normal car. The ever-increasing rise of petrol and diesel costs are driving more and more people to  adopt an EV. An electric car  has far less moving parts  compared to an ICE car which contains thousands of moving parts making it easier to maintain an EV. 

Also what helps is that several state governments have announced many  EV policies that promote both the demand and supply side through incentives,discounts and other benefits. These policies have driven the growth of electric vehicles in India in a slow and steady manner. The last and obvious advantage of adopting an electric vehicle is its contribution towards a cleaner environment. 

While the government hopes to have electric vehicle sales accounting to 30% of private cars, 70% of commercial vehicles and 80% of two and three wheelers by 2030. Electric vehicles market is expected to be worth around INR 475 billion by 2025. The Indian economy is expected to recover in 2022 as commercial activity picks up, and the auto industry is slated to enter a new period of expansion, innovation, and investment.

But the path to EV’s future is fraught with difficulties. Even though the Indian government is actively encouraging the use of electric vehicles, a dearth of high-performing EVs and insufficient infrastructure are the main obstacles to their widespread acceptance. The decision to purchase an EV has always been heavily influenced by capital costs. The lack of inadequate charging infrastructure is a huge barrier to increased EV penetration. Compared to petrol stations, charging stations are much harder to find which is limited by investment costs and difficult infrastructure development enabling people to charge where they park, at home or at work which presents its own challenges like multi-tenant buildings and charge slot availability. These drawbacks must be looked into closely by the government.

EVs are a potent  solution to combat pollution and it’s adverse effects. Alongside combating pollution, another point worth mentioning is the growth of innovation. The burgeoning market for new innovative products has found brilliant features in the form of driverless cars which has a possibility of revolutionizing the way we use cars. One such example would be allowing several family members to use the same car and returning to the home base after dropping off various occupants. This would reduce the need for multiple cars and indirectly change the purchase and lifestyle habits of the common public.

With lots of technological advancements, these days we are seeing the new specs and features in EVs which are making it as appealing as possible for the customers. Features like park assist, different driving and riding modes, cruise control, park assist, better engineering to tackle range anxiety, etc have been catching eyeballs in the market. In addition to this, we are even seeing newer categories of vehicles like utility vehicles, personal mobility vehicles, etc.

Several initiatives have been introduced by the Indian government that stands out. The National

Electric Mobility Mission Plan which targeted producing 6-7 million electric and hybrid vehicles in the country by 2025. Another initiative is the Government’s FAME Scheme( Faster adoption and manufacturing of hybrid and electric vehicles which aimed at providing financial support for technological growth. The GUTS Scheme for low carbon transformation through unique financing aimed at government owned vehicles.

India is one of the largest markets for EVs in Asia, behind China and ahead of Japan. If India achieves its true potential of 50% electrification, every 10th EV globally sold could be manufactured in India making it the global EV powerhouse. EV manufacturers in India have announced a significant increase in production, the big corporations are choosing EVs to deliver goods and services, the consumers are slowly adopting and preferring electric and hybrid variants evidenced by the rise in demand.

Lastly, the state and central governments are taking steps to improve the charging infrastructure, provide subsidiaries and convert public transport to all-EV in the near future making India one of the countries to adopt EV at a much faster pace than the rest. 

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