Charging Ahead: Is India's EV Adoption Plan a Model for the Developing World?
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Electric Vehicle Insights

Charging Ahead: Is India's EV Adoption Plan a Model for the Developing World?

16 January 2025 / Article

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Despite governmental purchase and production incentives and national “Go Electric” campaign initiatives, electric vehicle (EV) adoption in India is still in its infancy. This article discusses India’s initial successful strategy of at least partially electrifying 2 and 3-wheeled vehicles (2/3Ws) and the work that remains to achieve a completely decarbonized transportation sector.

Key Insights

  • India’s EV industry, primarily comprised of domestically produced EVs and 2/3Ws, is rapidly expanding thanks to supportive government policies and growing consumer interest; according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), EVs are expected to reach benchmarks of at least 25% of new vehicle sales, and 12% of the total vehicle stock, by 2035.
  • Despite historically high acquisition costs, consumers are beginning to benefit from falling battery electric vehicle (BEV) prices; purchase sentiment favors electric vehicles because of lower operating costs and concerns about environmental sustainability in response to hazardous air pollution levels, especially in cities such as Delhi.
  • Barriers to achieving the government’s goal of completely shifting to BEVs by 2045 remain in the form of an inadequate charging network and lack of available financing and credit for many consumers. Decarbonizing less costly 2/3Ws appears to be more realistic while also relatively far off in the short term. Overall, without utilizing significant additional policy actions, the country’s transportation electrification goal seems to be overly aggressive and ambitious.

Despite governmental purchase and production incentives and national “Go Electric” campaign initiatives, electric vehicle (EV) adoption in India is still in its infancy. This article discusses India’s initial successful strategy of at least partially electrifying 2 and 3-wheeled vehicles (2/3Ws) and the work that remains to achieve a completely decarbonized transportation sector.

Key Insights

  • India’s EV industry, primarily comprised of domestically produced EVs and 2/3Ws, is rapidly expanding thanks to supportive government policies and growing consumer interest; according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), EVs are expected to reach benchmarks of at least 25% of new vehicle sales, and 12% of the total vehicle stock, by 2035.
  • Despite historically high acquisition costs, consumers are beginning to benefit from falling battery electric vehicle (BEV) prices; purchase sentiment favors electric vehicles because of lower operating costs and concerns about environmental sustainability in response to hazardous air pollution levels, especially in cities such as Delhi.
  • Barriers to achieving the government’s goal of completely shifting to BEVs by 2045 remain in the form of an inadequate charging network and lack of available financing and credit for many consumers. Decarbonizing less costly 2/3Ws appears to be more realistic while also relatively far off in the short term. Overall, without utilizing significant additional policy actions, the country’s transportation electrification goal seems to be overly aggressive and ambitious.

Authors

Alexander Heil, PhD

Alexander Heil, PhD Alexander Heil, PhD

Senior Economist
The Conference Board

Read Bio

Ioannis Siskos

Ioannis Siskos Ioannis Siskos

Senior Research Fellow, Governance & Sustainabilit…
The Conference Board

Read Bio

Minji Xie

Minji Xie Minji Xie

Senior Researcher, China Center for Economics and …
The Conference Board

Read Bio

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