EV Bharat: Indian Electric Vehicle market in the next 5 years

The Tech Panda asked two EV experts to predict the next five years of the Indian Electric Vehicle (EV) market.

Electric Vehicles are a big part of the effort for improving and maintaining the environment. For example, recently, tech driven EV startup BattRE crossed 300 dealerships across 19 states and is planning to launch new products in the market.

Read more: EV Bharat is spiffing up to become 30% electric by 2030

In December, Indian electronic waste recycling company, Attero Recycling, announced an investment of INR 300 crores into lithium-ion recycling over the next nine months. The influx of funds will be utilized to ramp up the company’s lithium-ion battery recycling capacity by 11 times to 11,000 metric tons.

This indicates that EV adoption in India is increasing. What can we expect from the market in the next five years?

The Tech Panda asked this question to two EV experts, Ashwini Tiwary, Co-founder of Autobot India, and  Sameer Ranjan Jaiswal, Co-Founder, Charzer. According to both Jaiswal and Tiwary, the EV sector constitutes only a tiny percentage of the overall automobile sector as of now.

We believe that within the next five years or so, nearly 30% of the automotive market will directly turn into an EV oriented sector

“Presently, the EV market is a fraction of the total sales. It’s still small and there’s a lot of room to grow,” says Jaiswal.

Currently, more than 15 lakh Electric Vehicles ply on Indian roads. Last year, 99% of the EV market comprised of two wheelers and three wheelers, while close to 1% or less than 1% was four wheelers. By 2026, 25% of all vehicles sold in India are estimated to be electric.

As Tiwary says, “There is momentum, and we believe that within the next five years or so, nearly 30% of the automotive market will directly turn into an EV oriented sector.”

Jaiswal informs that there are about 60 brands that have announced some 120 new EV models to be launched during the next five years.

There has been a lot of research which has gone into electric vehicles, the battery technology has become much better, the torque and the acceleration is actually on par or even higher than a lot of petrol vehicles. Right now, there are EVs which are cheaper than regular vehicles

“The ratio of two wheelers is going to grow from presently having 30% EV market share to 92% EV market share, that is, 92% of all EVs are going to be electric two wheelers,” he says.

That’s something.

“There has been a lot of research which has gone into electric vehicles, the battery technology has become much better, the torque and the acceleration is actually on par or even higher than a lot of petrol vehicles. Right now, there are EVs which are cheaper than regular vehicles,” he informs.

How aware are Indians of the significance of EVs?

There has been a dire need to educate common people about the significance of EVs in daily lives, without which there won’t be an effort to make the change from fossil to electric. Tiwary says this awareness is growing rapidly.

The fact that EVs are the future of mobility is not lost upon anyone

“India has been late in joining the EV bandwagon, and the discussion on EVs has gained momentum only in the last three-four years. However, the awareness and the market potential has grown rapidly. We already have EVs in the 2 and 4-wheeler markets and with the Government of India putting its weight behind the EV sector, the fact that EVs are the future of mobility is not lost upon anyone,” he says with enthusiasm.

Jaiswal says that the awareness and the need for making a switch to electric vehicles has been increasing over the past one year.

COVID has been a silent accelerator for Electric Vehicles. People who are living in cities, have seen what clean air looks like, they got a sneak peek into how their lives could be much better if the air was cleaner

“Over the last one year, a lot has changed. COVID has been a silent accelerator for Electric Vehicles. People who are living in cities, have seen what clean air looks like, they got a sneak peek into how their lives could be much better if the air was cleaner. So, there’s a lot of awareness among the new generation who are more and more conscious about the decisions they are making on the products they use or the choices that they have,” he explains.

Read more: EV Bharat: The Common Man of India Has Started Thinking of EVs

Secondly, he says, with the rise in petrol prices, the shift towards EVs has started becoming faster.

“Even in our own experience with our dealer partners, the number of walk-ins and the number of sales in cities like Bangalore and Delhi has doubled. With more companies pouring in a lot of money into developing high quality vehicles, awareness is definitely increasing day by day,” he says.