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India is learning to love electric vehicles — but they're not cars

India is learning to love electric vehicles — but they're not cars

Published Mon, Jan 9 202312:10 AM EST
Charmaine Jacob@charmainemjacob

Key Points
  • Unlike in the United States and China, India's electric vehicle market is dominated by two-wheel vehicles instead of four-wheel passenger cars.
  • EVs make up only about 2% of total automobile sales in India, but the Indian government has targets to increase EV adoption in the next decade, focusing on raising purchases of two-wheel vehicles.
  • Sales in India are expected to rise by between 40% and 45% by 2030, at which point 13 million new vehicles will be sold annually, according to projections from Bain & Co.
When most people think about electric vehicles, they think cars.

From brands like Tesla and Rivian in the United States, to Nio and XPeng in China, global sales of electric vehicles have surged. Two million EVs were sold in just the first quarter of 2022 — that's a significant jump from a decade ago when sales hit only 120,000 cars worldwide, the International Energy Agency reported.

India's different. The United States and China have focused on the adoption of EV cars. But in India, the world's fifth-largest economy, two-wheel vehicles such as scooters, mopeds and motorbikes, dominate the market.

James Hong, head of mobility research at Macquarie Group, said two-wheel vehicles are in higher demand than cars in India, and that shouldn't come as a surprise.

Underdeveloped road infrastructure and lower personal incomes make it more convenient and affordable for people to own scooters, motorbikes or mopeds, rather than cars, Hong said.

Still, adoption remains low.

EVs make up only around 2% of total automobile sales, but the Indian government has ambitious targets to increase EV adoption in the next decade, focusing on raising purchases of two-wheel vehicles.

Sales in India are expected to rise by between 40% and 45% by 2030, at which point 13 million new vehicles will be sold annually, according to projections from Bain & Company published in December.

India's four-wheel vehicle sector is poised to grow by only 15% to 20% by 2030, with 1 million new vehicles sold annually, the consulting firm said.

Growth of India's four-wheel EV segment is expected to be smaller because the cars are mostly owned only by drivers who travel out of the city on longer routes, said Arun Agarwal, deputy vice president of equity research at Kotak Securities.

Bain & Co. predicts that total revenue across the full supply chain of India's EV industry will generate $76 billion to $100 billion by 2030.

Reducing cost to increase adoption

People in India have long preferred two wheels to four, and the country is home to more than 10 startups serving the market, Agarwal said.

For India to increase purchases of two-wheel vehicles, they need to be cheaper, and more charging infrastructure needs to be in place, Jinesh Gandhi, equity research analyst at Motilal Oswal Securities, told CNBC.

Gandhi said that 90% of two-wheel vehicles with internal combustion engines cost between 70,000 rupees ($845) and 140,000 rupees ($1,690). The starting price of electric two-wheel vehicles can be as high as 160,000 rupees.

The cost of EVs will come down if battery prices drop, Kotak's Agarwal said.

High inflation and disrupted supply chains have driven batter prices higher in 2022, Bain & Co. said. The cost would have to fall by an additional 20% to 30% for EVs to compete with internal combustion engine vehicles.

Arun Kumar, chief financial officer of two-wheel EV manufacturer Ola Electric, said it's a "myth" that EVs are more expensive than internal combustion vehicles because the "lifecycle cost of ownership of an EV is lower" than a two- or four-wheel vehicle that runs on fuel.

That means the amount of money EV owners can save in fuel and maintenance costs can offset the higher initial purchase price, he said.
Ola's two-wheel scooters, an upcoming motorbike, and four-wheel passenger car range between $1,000 and $50,000, he said.
"There's no coming back to [internal combustion engine] vehicles. It's a single direction," Kumar added.

Government help

Central and state governments in India have been providing incentives to encourage consumers in India to make the switch to EVs, Kotak's Agarwal said.

According to the International Energy Agency, government programs have provided funding to ramp up production of EV public buses and taxis, as well as increase charging stations around India.

EV owners are also granted road tax exemption at the time of purchase, and will receive a deduction on their income tax, the Accelerated e-Mobility Revolution for India's Transportation said.

Including taxes, owners of two-wheel internal combustion engine vehicles in India typically pay 3,000 rupees a month for their vehicle, Kumar said. Government initiatives coupled with money saved on petrol would therefore mean that the monthly installment on a vehicle becomes largely free to a customer, he said.

'Range anxiety'

As the adoption of electric vehicles is set to increase, so will charging infrastructures around the country. That remains a factor deterring people from making the switch away from carbon-intensive vehicles, Kotak's Agarwal said.

"If you are stranded on the road, you don't have any option but to get the vehicle towed to the nearest charging station, which is time- as well as a cost-consuming," Gandhi said.

India's charging infrastructure will need to significantly expand to support the number of EV companies that are set to come on the roads, the Bain & Co. report said, noting that several companies have made early investments and are committed to increasing the availability of chargers.

One of them is Tata Power,
India's largest privately owned power generation company.

Tata Power claimed it has built about 2,500 charging stations in 300 cities and towns in India. They can be found on 350 of 600 highways in the country, said Virendra Goyal, the firm's head of business development.

Many EV owners suffer from "range anxiety" when the distance between charging stations is too far, and bridging the gap would encourage more drivers to migrate to e-mobility, he said.

The company aims to have 25,000 chargers across India by 2028, Goyal said.

Resp sir,
I'm applying for the position of an internet shill bot for the Cow Protection and Kashmeer be ourz Incorporated.

It is a thankless task, i must say. Stalking superior forums outlawed in my own utopia i must strive to highlight everything positive about my heaven and fight unceasing hordes of trolls.

From one professional to another, might i ask for mental health tips, arguing against idiots online without logic has started to erode my critical thinking and the cow pee or poo just doesnt do it anymore.

I am in awe of your work ethics and dedication. Why it was only till yesterday that i understood gravity untill it had to make space for the post where you wonderfully highlighted how an irrelevant incident somewhere irelevant in China proved western nefarious designs and machinations, never trust em muricans i now say.

Anyways, keep up the good work, know that you've personally helped thousands by acting as a beacon rolemodel of what a somewhat paid internet 5th gen warrior should aspire to be.
 
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In fact, before electric vehicles were not as hot as they are now, in my impression, electric vehicles were the default electric bicycles. It's just that electric vehicles are about to rise in the past six or seven years, which has affected people's cognition


Do you really believe that India can replace Tesla in electric cars?

Do you really believe China can replace Tesla in electric cars?

Laughing dead, if you only do brand, is it building a system? Tesla's assisted driving technology and brand are very influential, but the electric vehicle industry chain system is concentrated in China. Didn't you say to build an industrial system? China's current chip production capacity is indeed unable to meet China's needs, because China is currently the world's largest demand country, but at the same time China is currently the largest market for chip equipment manufacturing demand, and the Semiconductor Alliance has announced that China will be one of the largest new semiconductor factories. .


Relying on China's supply system, Vietnam has created an electric car company with a valuation of tens of billions of dollars, although the market prospects are relatively hurdles. However, I don’t know whether India’s electric vehicle startups can compete with Vietnam’s industry. I wish you success

oh you keep vietnam for yourself. We're only interested in keeping India for ourselves,
 
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Do you really believe China can replace Tesla in electric cars?



oh you keep vietnam for yourself. We're only interested in keeping India for ourselves,
It is not said that it will definitely replace Tesla, but China is bound to become a very important force in the field of electric vehicles, at least at least the top three will definitely be no problem. And in some key industrial chains, China is already the strongest
 
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It is not said that it will definitely replace Tesla, but China is bound to become a very important force in the field of electric vehicles, at least at least the top three will definitely be no problem. And in some key industrial chains, China is already the strongest

India is also bound to become 'a very important force' in the field of electric vehicles
 
. . .

Exactly. like @从八品主簿 was bragging just two years ago about how 'China is 5g' and the whole world will suffer without China 5G. In the end, the americans screwed Huawei, organ harvested their mobile handset unit and the rest of the world is doing just fine. Chinese telecom companies, on the other hand, are bearing unbearable losses.,
 
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Exactly. like @从八品主簿 was bragging just two years ago about how 'China is 5g' and the whole world will suffer without China 5G. In the end, the americans screwed Huawei, organ harvested their mobile handset unit and the rest of the world is doing just fine. Chinese telecom companies, on the other hand, are bearing unbearable losses.,
Heck India even developed our own 5G stack and forced the American 5G gearmakers to make everything in India for Indian users specifically which will now be exported to other South Asian and African countries. Gearmakers even liked the Indian 5G stack and want to export this configuration especially to developing and underdeveloped countries because it is more economical.
 
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Heck India even developed our own 5G stack and forced the American 5G gearmakers to make everything in India for Indian users specifically which will now be exported to other South Asian and African countries. Gearmakers even liked the Indian 5G stack and want to export this configuration especially to developing and underdeveloped countries because it is more economical.

yeah man, the bots are full of bull$hit
 
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Heck India even developed our own 5G stack and forced the American 5G gearmakers to make everything in India for Indian users specifically which will now be exported to other South Asian and African countries. Gearmakers even liked the Indian 5G stack and want to export this configuration especially to developing and underdeveloped countries because it is more economical.

There's hardly any American 5G gear, at least not anything dominant. Cisco is nowhere near other vendors. At this point Huawei, ZTE, Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung are the major players. That's after all the bans in western countries for Huawei/ZTE. There is good market for openRAN, I doubt any Indian company is doing anything significant in that. Distributed, software-based networking is the future. I haven't found any Indian company doing any serious work in that matter.

BTW, what is this 5G "stack" that you talk about? I don't see the meaning of this word at all. Does it contain software/hardware/solution/implementation/support ? In fact where can I find a working product that I can read about? At this point I see this word getting re-hashed in the media without a single person explaining what it is. What I want to know a single practical implementation of this "stack" and what exactly is that doing. I am sure there has to be a research paper somewhere if that was implemented already.
 
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There's hardly any American 5G gear, at least not anything dominant. Cisco is nowhere near other vendors. At this point Huawei, ZTE, Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung are the major players. That's after all the bans in western countries for Huawei/ZTE. There is good market for openRAN, I doubt any Indian company is doing anything significant in that. Distributed, software-based networking is the future. I haven't found any Indian company doing any serious work in that matter.

BTW, what is this 5G "stack" that you talk about? I don't see the meaning of this word at all. Does it contain software/hardware/solution/implementation/support ? In fact where can I find a working product that I can read about? At this point I see this word getting re-hashed in the media without a single person explaining what it is. What I want to know a single practical implementation of this "stack" and what exactly is that doing. I am sure there has to be a research paper somewhere if that was implemented already.
After you've done smelling the Chinese ballsack, it would be wise if you could do your homework yourself instead of asking others to spoon-feed you.
You can get started from here

https://www.cdot.in/cdotweb/web/5gConsortiumMembers.php?lang=en&cid=2
 
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After you've done smelling the Chinese ballsack, it would be wise if you could do your homework yourself instead of asking others to spoon-feed you.
You can get started from here

https://www.cdot.in/cdotweb/web/5gConsortiumMembers.php?lang=en&cid=2

I must say I have't seen this link earlier. Now after looking into their respective websites/portfolio, I realise why I never heard of them. Some of the portals look like it was created by few college students as a summer project. Did you look at their product offerings? Are you telling me these will compete against the likes of Huawei, ZTE, Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung? Yeah, good luck! Even good luck won't be enough.

I still haven't seen the definition of "stack" in any of their sites from the little time I spent just now.
 
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Does tesla make the motor chip by itself? Lol, it's a part of a compex supply chain. Even your beloved china needs to import chips to meet the demands of it's automotive industry
But Tesla uses Chinese power batteries. Can you imagine Tesla buying Indian batteries? OMG
 
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I must say I have't seen this link earlier. Now after looking into their respective websites/portfolio, I realise why I never heard of them. Some of the portals look like it was created by few college students as a summer project. Did you look at their product offerings? Are you telling me these will compete against the likes of Huawei, ZTE, Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung? Yeah, good luck! Even good luck won't be enough.

I still haven't seen the definition of "stack" in any of their sites from the little time I spent just now.
Just like you can assume they are college students, extend me the same courtesy to assume you being a useless chauthi fail.

If you don't even know what a stack is, why do you insist on spewing things that translates as mumbo jumbo to your brain?

 
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