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Sonia Sarkar

When Rajiv Khattar, 60, was driving more than 450km from Amritsar to Delhi, his main concern was keeping the battery of his electric car charged. It was May, the peak of India’s summer, his battery was exhausting quickly, and it wasn’t easy for him to find a charging station along the highway.
The first charging station that he could find was 314km away, but it was not operational. He had to drive another 35km before he finally found one he could use.
“Electric vehicle owners need to be extremely calculative about their route, especially on the highways, because many charging stations do not work,” Khattar, a business strategist, told This Week In Asia.
A recent survey by app-based platform Park+ found that more than 51 per cent of Indian electric vehicle owners want to go back to diesel and petrol-powered internal-combustion engine (ICE) cars. Of the 500 electric car owners surveyed in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi and its neighbourhoods, 88 per cent stated that they are forever anxious about charging facilities.
At present, India has nearly 25,200 public charging stations, but it plans to have 46,397 stations to be set up within nine cities by 2030. Currently, there is one charging station per 135 EVs, which is far lower than the global ratio of one charging station per 6 to 20 EVs.

In India, two-wheelers and three-wheelers account for 90 per cent of the total fleet of electric vehicles. A report by Climate Trends and JMK Research estimated the country would need around 3.9 million public and semipublic charging stations to facilitate its target of having 80 million EVs on the road by 2030.
The lack of charging stations and other EV infrastructure is proving to be a significant drag on both consumer confidence and adoption rates, presenting a major roadblock to India’s goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2070.
Charging challenges
Amit Bhatt, India Managing Director at the International Council on Clean Transportation, said resident welfare associations and real estate developers often do not allow charging stations to be set up because it is not mandated by the government and there is a lack of clarity on the process.
Khattar, who has installed an 11 kilowatt charging station at his own residence in Noida, said that most public charging stations have 60kW chargers, but a lot of electric cannot be charged at a rate higher than 30kW.
Amegh Gopinath, a senior mobility expert, who has been working closely with various Indian ministries on clean air and electric mobility, told This Week In Asia that charge point operators have revealed that the utilisation rate of public charging infrastructure across Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru varies between four and five per cent.
A utilisation rate means how often EV users charge at a particular station. Typically, each charging port is used for an hour on average, with a base rate of 20 per cent. Anything above this means the charging station owner may need to install more infrastructure to reduce the time and maintain a stable usage rate.
Noting that the locations of charging stations are chosen randomly, and therefore they are not utilised properly, Paritosh Oza, general manager, sales and marketing at electric vehicle charger manufacturer Lubi EV Solutions, said that the government must allocate land to private players to set up charging stations on highways, where malls or restaurants are already operational.
“Facilities for power enhancement should also be provided to ensure that charging stations can run without interruption,” Oza said.

Sharif Qamar, associate director of the transport and urban governance division at the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), said that about 11 task forces have been recently set up by the Indian ministry of heavy Industries, covering the entire ecosystem of electric vehicles, to resolve issues related to charging infrastructure, testing agencies, and battery swapping, among others, to chart out the EV industry’s future.
A new set of guidelines on EV charging stations prepared by the Indian Ministry of Power says that at least one charging station shall be available per 1km x 1km grid in urban areas by 2030 and charging stations shall be set up at every 20km on both sides of highways.
Moushumi Mohanty, head of electric mobility at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said the government has recommended interoperability among charging stations set up by different companies, which would allow any EV to be charged at any charging station, leading to increased utilisation of existing charging stations and greater convenience for the EV users.
Sales and subsidies in flux
The sales of electric vehicles in India dropped by more than 14 per cent in June to 106,081 units, down from 123,704 units in May.
That contrasts with an overall increase in EV sales over the last two years. In financial year 2022, India recorded total sales of EVs at 1,179,419 units, which rose to 1,670,736 in financial year 2023, an increase of more than 40 per cent.
Globally, electric car sales increased by 35 per cent in 2023 compared to the previous year.
Experts pointed out that India’s dip in the sales of electric vehicles in June happened due to the discontinuation of a central government subsidy scheme in March. A new subsidy plan to promote electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers, introduced in April, has now been extended to September.

Although Khattar wants the government to offer higher subsidies for people wanting to scrap their ICE cars and switch to electrics, he complained that subsidies are not released on time.
Khattar has been waiting for the past one year for his subsidy to be released by the regional transport office in Noida. He believes state governments should release the subsidy once the vehicle is registered.
But he is hopeful that India’s subsidy initiatives, coupled with stringent fuel economy standards, will promote electric mobility.
The Park+ survey, however, found that 51 per cent of existing EV owners surveyed do not plan to buy another electric vehicle and 33 per cent of owners are dissatisfied with the resale values of their EVs, which are currently low due to the absence of standardised evaluations and tests.
Qamar said that low battery prices, advanced cell chemistry innovations and government’s purchase incentive to tackle air pollution will chart a better future for EVs, but manufacturers still need to provide better after-sales service and regularly monitor the satisfaction of EV owners.
Driving towards zero-emissions
India has committed to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2070 – which is already 20 years behind the target set by the US and European Union and 10 years behind China.
A recent ICCT research report suggests that India must electrify its entire motor vehicle fleet, including trucks, between 2045 and 2050 to achieve its net-zero target by 2070. “Therefore, electrification of transport is not only needed but also inevitable for reaching India’s climate goals,” Bhatt said.
Heavy-duty vehicles account for more than 40 per cent of India’s on-road nitrogen oxides emissions, more than 60 per cent of on-road particulate matter (PM 2.5) and more than 20 per cent of black carbon emissions. So there is a need for the government to encourage heavy-duty ICE vehicles to transition to electric to meet the 2070 target, Gopinath said.
“For faster transitioning to e-trucks, the government must develop charging infrastructure along highways. Without this essential infrastructure for heavy-duty vehicles, achieving the switch to electric trucks will be hindered,” Gopinath said.
According to CSE forecasts, India is expected to have 85 per cent EV penetration by 2037.
But Mohanty warned that emissions from other sources such as energy production, manufacturing, and construction and demolition waste, among others also need to be accounted for to reach the 2070 target.


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This Week in Asia

Economics

A survey found that 51 per cent of India’s EV owners want to switch back to gas and diesel powered vehicles


A survey found that 51 per cent of India’s EV owners want to switch back to gas and diesel powered vehicles.


India’s electric vehicle owners turned off by country’s lack of charging stations

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}A survey found that 51 per cent of India’s EV owners want to switch back to gas and diesel powered vehicles

A survey found that 51 per cent of India’s EV owners want to switch back to gas and diesel powered vehicles