Till 2030, India will lead the global Electric Vehicle market with 40% private electric vehicle adoption and 100% commercial vehicle adoption. As a country, we are heading towards this goal step by step, but the question standing before us is, “Is India ready for electric vehicles?”.
Every day, we see a fresh news about EVs catching fire, owners thrashing their E-scooters, EVs getting into major accidents, owners pleading around service centres, etc. Although reports show different images, EV sales have been on a content rise since 2021. So, every action and report ultimately boils down to one question: Is India ready for electric vehicles?
In this article, we’ll answer this question and reveal the on-ground reality of electric vehicles.
Range Anxiety:
Let’s address the elephant in the room, i.e. “Range of an Electric Vehicle.” Talking practically, electric vehicles don’t provide more than 150km range in full charge. But do we really need that?
One can’t drive more than 100km daily, and electric vehicles can easily cover that distance. A few popular E-vehicles are Ola S1 Pro, Ather 450X, Hero Vida V1 pro, etc., which can easily cover 100km on a full charge. However, in emergencies when your EV doesn’t have sufficient charging, it can cause you major issues, and to solve such rare cases, the Indian government and startup eco-system are constantly working on building a robust charging eco-system.
So, all in all, we can conveniently say that Range Anxiety is not such a big issue that myths have made it. Yes, we do have some major issues with charging time and the limited range of EVs, and everyone in the eco-system is working on solving it.
Position of India’s EV Market on a Global level:
India Is the world’s fifth-largest car market and the second-largest two-wheeler market, making it a rising power in the EV market. While still in its nascent stages, the Indian EV market is experiencing explosive growth, with sales expected to reach 40% EV adoption by 2030. This rapid ascension makes India as a key player in the global EV race.
India’s growth so far:
- In 2022, India sold over 450,000 EV units, significantly increasing from previous years.
- The market is projected to grow at a CAGR of over 66% between 2022 and 2029, reaching a staggering USD 113.99 billion by the end of the decade.
- Two-wheelers currently dominate the market, accounting for over 80% of sales. However, four-wheeler segments are also gaining traction, with major automakers launching new EV models.
Where India stands globally:
If we talk about the biggest EV manufacturers and consumers in the world, it is “China”, with 5.5 million manufactured and 5.3 million sold, followed by the US, where they sold 910k. India sold only 400k EVs in the year 2022, but we are on a constant rise and by the end of this decade, India has paved its way to become a dominating EV power in the world.
General perception about E-Vehicles in India:
Indian customers have very low confidence in electric vehicles due to various myths and a few accidental events with EVs in the past. Here’s a list of all the vague thoughts Indians have about electric vehicles.
- Range anxiety: The limited range of most EVs compared to petrol/diesel vehicles remains a major concern, particularly for long-distance travel. The lack of a widespread charging network further fuels this anxiety.
- Higher upfront cost: Despite subsidies, the initial price of EVs remains a barrier for many budget-conscious consumers. This is especially true for four-wheeler EVs compared to two-wheelers.
- Charging infrastructure concerns: The limited availability of charging stations outside major cities makes owning an EV inconvenient for many. The fear of not finding a charging station when needed deters potential buyers.
- Battery life and replacement costs: Concerns about battery degradation over time and the high cost of battery replacements deter some potential buyers. The lack of awareness about battery warranties and recycling options adds to the scepticism.
Top 5 challenges about electric vehicles in India:
Here are the challenges we need to solve in India:
- High cost cost:
Despite its low total cost of ownership, electric vehicles have fairly high upfront costs, due to which many customers hassle to purchase an EV and prefer going with an ICE vehicle at a much lower ex-showroom price, but Zecat is solving the same issue for Indian customers by providing an EV on a monthly lease for a much lower starting cost.
- Range Anxiety:
The Indian E-Vehicles have achieved a comfortable daily commutable range, although we still have to do a lot of work on emergency use cases, and for that, we are building a robust charging station network.
- Battery degradation:
The batteries in electric vehicles degrade at a pretty high level, and for that, we don’t have a stable solution yet, but we are working on better-engineered EV batteries.
- Charging station:
We don’t have a robust charging station network. By that, I don’t just mean the charging station network but its availability, discoverability, usability and much more.
- Poor services:
The Indian EV market is deceased by a plague named “After sales services”. EV owners are highly discouraged by the after-sales services of EV companies, and we need to work on that.
Conclusion:
The Indian EV market is growing, but still, a great deal of work is need to be done and with the support of Indian govt and EV starups this market will flourish very soon.
