The government is likely to expand its eletric vehicle (EV) policy to benefit automakers producing electric vehicles in existing factories, according to a report by news agency Reuters.
This raises the question of whether one should opt for an EV or not in 2025.
What are the electric cars available in India?
Electric cars currently make up less than 3% of the total car sales in India.
Tata Motors has a decent portfolio of EVs with the Tiago EV, Tigor EV, Punch EV, Nexon EV, and Curvv EV.
JSW MG Motor India has the Windsor EV, Comet EV and ZS EV.
Mahindra offers the XUV400 and has recently launched the BE 6e and XEV 9e.
Hyundai sells the Ioniq 5 and will launch the Creta EV in 2025.
BYD India offers the eMAX 7, Atto 3 and the Seal.
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Meanwhile Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest carmaker, will be launching its first EV, the eVX concept-based e Vitara, in 2025.
Skoda and Volkswagen India are also planning to introduce the Enyaq and the ID.4 respectively.
The remaining are from luxury carmakers like Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi, amongst others.
Should you consider an electric vehicle or not?
An important aspect to consider is the price which may likely come down if the EV policy is changed to favour carmakers like Hyundai, Kia, Toyota, Volkswagen and Skoda, which are already present in India and have manufacturing facilities here.
Though pricing may become more friendly, there are a whole host of other factors to consider such as use cases. For instance, if the primary use is within the city, then EVs can be a more friendly option.
For extended highway use on the other hand, EVs can become impractical owing to limited range and limited charging stations. Even if you find charging stations, the time it takes to charge an EV is something to be considered.
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However, the government is doing its part and the recently launched PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) scheme budgets ₹2,000 crore to expand the public charging network for select cities with high EV presence and select related highways.
The scheme proposes the installation of 22,100 fast chargers for electric four-wheelers, 1,800 fast chargers for electric buses and 48,400 fast chargers for electric two-wheelers and electric three-wheelers.
The bottom line is that EV ownership is not for everyone, but for those who primarily use it in the city and live in one which has proper availability of charging stations.