At 0.88% of all Vehicle Registrations, EVs Record Their Highest Share in Indian Market

According to the CEEW-CEF, registrations for EVs accounted for 0.88% of all registrations in the last fiscal- the highest share ever achieved.

According to the CEEW Centre for Energy Finance’s (CEEW-CEF) electric mobility dashboard, the e-mobility sector in India has been slowly pulling itself out of the COVID-19 induced slump recording nearly 1.35 lakh electric vehicle (EV) registrations in FY21. The updated dashboard has indicated that post the lockdown-induced dip in sales, registrations for EVs accounted for 0.88 percent of all vehicle registrations in the last financial year – the highest share ever achieved. 

The Indian automobile market has registered over 6.38 lakh EVs since 2011-12.

Arunabha Ghosh, CEO, CEEW, said, “Electric mobility is poised to be at the forefront of India’s green recovery. In the coming years, the Central and state governments need to reduce uncertainty by rolling out detailed and clear long-term policies. Further, targeted efforts are needed to solve critical challenges such as higher upfront cost of EVs, lack of end-user financing, consumer’s range anxiety, and inaccessible charging. The CEEW-CEF dashboard provides key information of over 600 public charging stations in the country.”

The mobility dashboard further indicates that two-wheeler and three-wheeler EV sales accounted for nearly 96 percent of the electric mobility market in FY21. And, 3W EVs made up ~65 percent of all EV registrations in FY21, having comprised 83 percent of the market in the year before. 2W EVs, on the other hand, made up nearly 30 percent of all EV registrations in FY21, previously accounting for only 14 percent of the market (this includes only two-wheelers with speeds greater than or equal to 25 km/hr). Also, the two-wheeler EV market saw a 1.6 fold increase in FY21, from 24,839 units sold in FY20 to 40,837 in FY21.

The dashboard also suggests that the four-wheeler segment is expected to grow rapidly with over 23 new electric car models scheduled for launch by FY22. The dashboard also highlights that a consumer shifting from a petrol-run sedan to an electric sedan in Delhi NCT, could save nearly Rs 30,000 annually in operational expenses.

Meghna Nair, Analyst at CEEW-CEF said, “Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Karnataka were the top 3 states in terms of EV sales in FY21. Uttar Pradesh alone contributed 23 percent of the country’s sales, with 31,584 EVs sold in FY21. The top 10 states together made 88 percent of all EVs sold in India. Tripura, however, leads with the highest share of EVs per 1,000 internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, with 52 EVs sold for every 1,000 ICE vehicles in FY21.”

The mobility dashboard shows that the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) in India – II scheme has achieved only 4.25 percent of its sales targets till now. One major barrier could be that many potential EV buyers are unaware of the financial incentives available to them such as user subsidies and significant exemptions from road tax and registration fees.

In March, a report by WRI India had suggested that 12 states in the country stand out for their electric vehicles (EV) policies which can actually support and nurture an EV transition. The report by WRI highlighted the 12 states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh. 

As per the report, these states have pushed for EV adoption as well as EV manufacturing with a combination of subsidies and tax exemptions in three segments. Namely, consumer incentives, charging infrastructure incentives, and industry incentives.