MUMBAI: There is a need to accelerate electric vehicle (EV) sales in Mumbai and rest of the country, and also set up more charging stations to reach the 2030 sales projection, else India will fall short of 40% of its targets, said a latest analysis report on Friday.
The report was released by Climate Trends and JMK Research and showed that under the current wave of electric mobility policies, the country may only be able to reach 5 crore EV sales by 2030. "India had set a target of EV sales penetration of 30% of private cars, 70% of commercial cars, 40% of buses and 80% of two and three-wheelers by 2030. In absolute numbers, this amounts to having 8 crore electric vehicles on the road by 2030," the report stated.
The report estimated that India needs to have at least 39 lakh cumulative charging stations between 2022 and 2030, to support 8 crore EVs. This is based on eight EVs per charging station. This is much higher than the charging stations planned so far in this period.
“In electric mobility as well, the country needs much more coordination," said Climate Trends director Aarti Khosla. "India has started on the right foot on e-mobility, with an enabling policy landscape and sales growing rapidly in some vehicle segments. However, we need more coordinated efforts between states and centre, in defining targets and incentives that align with national ambition and policies, not to miss much greater focus on charging infrastructure and financial solutions for funding EVs."
The report further stated, "A few recommendations that can improve India’s chances of realising EV sales projections by 2030 -- coordinated efforts across state policies and relevant government departments, and better alignment with national targets; focusing on 100% electrification of government owned and aggregator fleets; introducing mandates for EVs, especially for government vehicles and three wheelers in select cities; offering financial solutions to OEMs, battery manufacturers and consumers; and defining clear targets in state policies for charging infrastructure.
Maharashtra had announced its EV policy exactly a year ago-- on July 15, 2021-- to ensure that 10% of all new vehicles should be EV by 2025 and make the state a leader in terms of EV adoption. The state now has over 10,000 electric cars and nearly a lakh electric two-wheelers. The number is likely to increase once there are 1,500 new EV charging stations across the Mumbai region.
