IS INDIA READY FOR EVs?



We hear about Electric Vehicles quite often these days but it’s not a new concept; the very first electric car was invented in the 1800's. In recent times, many big companies such as Tesla, Nissan, Ford, and Volkswagen are trying to make EVs the more preferable choice among customers.

EVs are transfiguring the world of transportation. They use an electric motor in place of an internal combustion engine and run-on electricity which makes them environment friendly and eliminates the need for non-renewable energy resources such as petrol and diesel. Apart from reducing the toll on the environment, it is cost-effective, user-friendly, and requires low maintenance. EVs also have remarkable emission benefits over conventional vehicles.

More than 50% of the pollution in India is caused due to conventional vehicles. With the ever-increasing threat of climate change and with pollution levels soaring high, it’s time that India switches to a cleaner energy alternative and welcomes electric vehicles, but is India ready for EVs?

At the moment, certain challenges are acting as a roadblock in India’s EV dream. One of the major issues is the lack of infrastructure and necessary technology to support the manufacturing and use of electric vehicles. India needs a supply of well-structured charging stations but should enough EVs be on the road first or should sufficient charging units be set up first, is kind of a chicken and egg situation. 


Another issue is that EVs need to be charged after short intervals which makes them not so ready for long distances and highways, but hybrid cars can most definitely be a solution to this as they work both on electricity and petrol. Power theft and power cuts are some problems that can have adverse effects and hinder the process. A lot of Indians prefer petrol, diesel, or CNG vehicles and many of them do not seem ready to use electric vehicles yet due to lack of information, costs, and slow speed.


The government of India launched phase-2 of its subsidy scheme, FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles in India) in 2019 and allocated a budget of ₹10,000 crores for the same. The objective of FAME is to create demand for EVs through various incentives and work on the development of the required infrastructure. Different state governments have also adopted several encouraging policies to promote the use of electric vehicles. For instance, in Telangana, all-electric vehicles are exempted from paying road taxes and registration fees, meanwhile, in Gujarat, the government is offering subsidies to students purchasing two-wheeler EVs. Furthermore, the Maharashtra government promises to provide incentives of ₹5000 per kilowatt-hour for all E-vehicle categories. Similarly, the Andhra Pradesh government assured that all government vehicles would be transformed into electric vehicles. The Tamil Nadu government announced a complete exemption from motor vehicle taxes for electric cars and Uttar Pradesh has plans of deploying a thousand electric buses in the state by 2030.

Despite these policies, according to data released by SMEV, the sales of EVs in India fell by 20% to 2,36,802 units in the fiscal year 2020-2021 due to various reasons, one of them being the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the good thing is that the city speed and high-speed category in two-wheelers have witnessed the growth and people have started moving towards advanced lithium-ion batteries. Around 1300 charging stations have been set up till now and various leading players like Tata Power are coming up with rapid expansion plans. In the coming years, it is expected that India will have robust charging infrastructure in place.

There is a lot of scope for EVs in India but at present, it is not completely ready for it. Both the central and state governments are undeniably working to make India’s EV dream come true but there needs to be a proper implementation of suitable policies, subsidies and incentives that can be an excellent way to attract customers. The different barriers need to be analysed and worked upon, and there is a need to help people be better informed about the advantages of EVs both environmentally and economically.

Hridya Gandhi
B.A.(Hons) Economics
Second Year






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