India's EV Adoption Outpaces Charging Infrastructure as Market Matures

India's electric vehicle market continues to expand rapidly, but charging infrastructure is struggling to keep pace with the surge in battery electric vehicle adoption, according to the 2025 HERE-SBD EV Index released Tuesday.

The index, which assessed 31 Indian states and union territories for the second consecutive year, found that the ratio of electric vehicles to public chargers increased sharply from 12:1 in 2024 to 20:1 in 2025. This indicates that vehicle adoption is accelerating faster than charging infrastructure deployment.

Chandigarh retained its top position with a score of 87.90 out of 100, followed by Karnataka in second place and Goa in third. Delhi continues to lead in charger density with approximately one public charger for every nine kilometres of road, while Goa recorded the highest EV fleet share at 0.91 percent.

At the other end of the rankings, Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar, Assam, and Jharkhand occupied the bottom five positions.

India added 6,800 new public charge points between 2024 and 2025, but the average charger power remained flat at 33 kilowatts, suggesting infrastructure expansion is not evolving quickly enough to support fast charging needs.

The policy landscape shifted following the conclusion of the FAME II programme in September 2024. The PM E-DRIVE scheme now focuses primarily on electrifying two-wheelers, three-wheelers, and commercial vehicles, though four-wheelers continue to benefit from sales tax deductions and the Production Linked Incentive scheme.

A consumer survey of over 1,000 drivers conducted as part of the research revealed strong optimism about electric vehicles in India. Indian EV owners have an average age of 35 years, significantly younger than their counterparts in the United States and European Union, where the average is 46 years.

Nearly half of Indian respondents expect more than 50 percent of vehicles sold in 2030 to be electric. However, the survey also highlighted challenges, with 73 percent of EV owners reporting they had experienced a failed charging attempt due to faulty public chargers.

The perceived lack of charging infrastructure emerged as the top barrier to adoption, cited by 47 percent of respondents. More public charging stations were identified as the most desired improvement by 36 percent of those surveyed.

Abhijit Sengupta, Senior Director and Head of Business for HERE's India and Southeast Asian operations, said the findings highlight both the promise and pressure points of India's EV ecosystem.

Robert Fisher, Senior Consulting Manager at SBD Automotive, noted that India must navigate the distinct requirements of its diverse mobility landscape, as the needs of two- and three-wheeler drivers differ greatly from those of car owners and public transport operators.

The index evaluated regions based on four metrics: charger availability per road length, average power capacity of chargers, EV fleet share, and the ratio of registered EVs to public chargers. Each metric was scored out of 25 for a total possible score of 100.

The 2025 edition introduced a balance score to assess how evenly each region is advancing across the four infrastructure metrics. The full report and interactive data are available on the HERE Technologies website.