Amid the fanfare of new launches and soaring expectations, mainstream buyers remain hesitant.
07 Jul 2025 | 562 Views | By Ketan Thakkar & Prerna Lidhoo
After reading about the Creta Electric, 39-year-old lawyer Nitish Joshi walked into a Hyundai showroom in Gurugram, excited by the idea of going electric. But that excitement quickly faded as the salesperson began detailing home charger installations, software updates, and the uncertainties of real-world range.
“It felt less like ...
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After reading about the Creta Electric, 39-year-old lawyer Nitish Joshi walked into a Hyundai showroom in Gurugram, excited by the idea of going electric. But that excitement quickly faded as the salesperson began detailing home charger installations, software updates, and the uncertainties of real-world range.
“It felt less like buying a car, more like setting up a tech project and seems more complicated than what I thought I was signing up for. There's also been some posts about software issues with these cars. I think it's too soon to buy an EV at this point,” he says. He left without the booking. Nikhil isn’t alone and Hyundai isn’t the only manufacturer facing this.
For every EV launched with great fanfare at the Bharat Mobility Show including Mahindra’s XEV 9e, Hyundai’s Creta EV or Tata Punch EV, there are cautious customers now hesitating in dealerships. Yes, interest is growing. EV sales have technically doubled—from 2.2% in 2023 to about 4.4% in May 2025. But the hockey-stick explosion that was meant to define 2024 hasn’t quite arrived. Dealers speak of a longer decision cycle.
Early software glitches have made headlines and left customers wary. Charging infrastructure remains patchy even in big cities. And for all the curiosity, customer conversion still lags. Six months into the year, the real story is clear: Hype may spark interest, but it takes far more to seal the deal.
The Early days
When Tata Motors launched the Nexon EV in 2020, it wasn’t just India’s first mainstream electric car, it marked the moment that the electric future had officially begun. The early buyers were a very specific cohort: urban professionals, entrepreneurs, doctors, often people who had lived or traveled abroad and had experienced EVs in markets like Western Europe or the US.
“They knew what a Tesla felt like. These were high-usage customers who drove 100–150 km within city limits and could rely on predictable charging either at home or at work,” Vivek Srivatsa, Chief Commercial Officer at Tata Passenger Electric Mobility said. Fuel prices played a role too.
“When Nexon launched, fuel was already touching Rs 80 per litre. After deregulation, there was panic, people didn’t know where prices would go. That pushed many to consider EVs,” he explains. Tata’s initial success was staggering. Between 2021 and 2023, when India’s total electric passenger vehicle (TRV) market stood at around 60,000 units, Tata alone sold nearly 85–90% of those cars.
Most of them were Nexons, bought by users who were willing to pay upfront for lower long-term operating costs. But the first signs of a maturing market came with the Nexon EV Max, which featured a larger 40 kWh battery compared to the original 30 kWh version. “We saw a surge in demand for the Max but interestingly, most of those customers were existing EV users upgrading.
We weren’t adding new consumers, just shifting them from Nexon to Max,” he said. This was the first signal that the EV-buying audience in India might be smaller than expected. “Initially, we were struggling to meet demand. But by mid-2023, we started to realise that acceptance wasn’t growing as fast as we’d hoped,” he adds.
Then came the Tiago EV, a game-changer for a different reason. Compact, city-friendly, and more affordable, it appealed to a new segment—first-time buyers and households looking for a second car. Tata was booking 6,000–7,000 units a month and delivering around 4,000, constrained only by production.
“We sold around 40,000–45,000 units of the Tiago EV over two years. That’s a strong number. The real turning point, though, was Punch EV. It had everything going for it: SUV styling, a compact footprint, a bigger battery. It became our largest-selling EV but it also cannibalised both Nexon and Tiago sales. The overall EV pie wasn’t growing as fast,” Srivatsa said.
From doubling annually between 2021 and 2023, the pace of growth began to plateau. And the kind of buyer changed too. “We were no longer dealing with early adopters who had done all the research and understood EVs. Now we were talking to the early majority, who had very different concerns,” Srivatsa points out.
That shift came with new challenges. Negative narratives about EVs started circulating: questions about battery life, replacement cost, even the environmental impact of manufacturing. Other headwinds emerged like range anxiety, software bugs, and pricing uncertainty. “Some people started waiting, thinking EV prices will drop as battery costs fall. It created hesitation. Even those who were serious took longer to decide,” he adds.
According to Srivatsa, battery replacement fears, range anxiety especially for intercity drives with patchy public charging infrastructure, price uncertainty due to rapid improvements and fluctuating input costs have made buyers cautious. India’s EV ecosystem, says Rahul Bharti, Senior Executive Officer – Corporate Affairs at Maruti Suzuki India Limited, has been set back not only by infrastructure gaps and customer anxiety, but also marked by several supply side issues.
“A variety of issues have hampered quick proliferation of EVs in the country... quality, actual on-road range, poor after-sales support, lack of adequate charging infrastructure. These factors have not been able to instill the desired customer confidence in EVs. Hence slow proliferation despite several models. Bharti is clear: “We have always been thinking how to increase BEVs.”
Maruti had explored entering WagonR EV as early as 2020, but pulled back after deep customer research. “The hard truth is that EVs currently work better for larger vehicles than small ones. The battery alone adds about 500 kgs that’s a big shift in dynamics for a small hatchback,” he explained. So, instead of converting an ICE model, Maruti went ground-up, building a fresh EV on a brandnew platform: the HEARTECT-e.
“It’s not a retrofit. An EV made out of an ICE retrofit has several design compromises. A freshly designed EV platform is highly optimized. To get the market more excited about the value in EVs, we needed to make sure it’s optimised for performance, weight, crash safety and battery placement. Advanced features like 7-airbags and Level-2 ADAS in the e-VITARA also help in building customer confidence” he said.
The Buyer Mindset Change
According to Tarun Garg, COO of Hyundai Motor India, in the early days, owning an EV was about standing out. “People loved the green number plate, it made them feel progressive. But as EVs go mainstream, the buying behaviour is shifting. Right now, people still want to be seen as different. But soon, total cost of ownership and brand trust will become more important than novelty,” he said.
He points out that the key reason EV penetration remained modest till now was simple: five of India’s top six automakers didn’t have EVs in the market. “Maruti, Mahindra, Hyundai, Toyota, Kia—they control 65% of the market. None of us had mass-market EVs. How could penetration rise? The moment these brands step in, you’ll see penetration jump. It’s not a question of if anymore,” he says.
Hyundai’s first mainstream EV, the Creta Electric, was launched with conservative ambitions of about 1,000 units a month but according to industry experts, Mahindra’s bigbang entry overpowered Creta’s launch and is able to sell 700–800 units per month. The company claims the entry into the mass market EV Space began with the Creta Electric serving as a bridge before the company is preparing to launch base-up or dedicated EVs.
Creta Name plate commands that pull which an EV aspirant desires for, feels Garg. The company also recently announced an ambitious plan to launch 6 EVs by 2030 to attain higher market share than the mainstream ICE market. As electric vehicles moved beyond the early adopter phase and start attracting the early majority, consumer expectations have begun to evolve in unexpected ways. The focus, once sharply fixed on creature comforts and techladen cabins, is shifting towards something more fundamental: range.
“Earlier, people looked for features. Now, they just want more battery. Even if a car is loaded with features, it won’t sell unless the range is high,” Srivatsa said. This trend was evident with the Punch EV. Despite being more feature-rich than the earlier versions of the Nexon EV, offering connected car tech, a digital cockpit, and other premium touches, it came with a smaller battery. And that, for many buyers, was a deal-breaker.
Consumers had begun to directly equate battery size with value and peace of mind, often willing to compromise on features if it meant more kilometers per charge. For this new wave of buyers, EV ownership is no longer about standing out or trying something new, it is about predictability, practicality, and the confidence to go the distance without anxiety.
No Room For Error
Early EV buyers from carmakers like Tata Motors and Mahindra and Mahindra encountered software glitches that, experts say, undermined confidence and became a key turnoff for potential buyers.
“It’s a global issue not just Tata or India. ICE-to-EV transitions are complex, and even global giants have faced it. But yes, even isolated glitches like sudden range drops or ‘walk-home’ failures made disproportionate noise,” Srivatsa explained. Experts say that EVs now face experience-driven expectations.
“Buyers want to use an EV like an ICE car. No compromises. They want better running costs, better features, and the same level of reliability. Only then will they switch,” he adds. For Maruti’s Bharti, the development phase is meant for course correction, not criticism. “We do not consider issues during testing as failures. A failure is what happens after a product reaches the customer,” he explained. “At Maruti Suzuki, every aspect—including software—is thoroughly tested and validated before launch to ensure reliability and peace of mind for the end user.”
Bharti believes that the most overlooked part of EV adoption is service or after sales assurance to customers. “The biggest bottleneck in customers mind is post-sales service support. Maruti Suzuki is addressing this by training technicians annually through its CSR programs.
“The fundamental to good service is a trained technician. Our High Voltage training CSR program in about 130 ITIs of India will train 4,100 students every year. At the end of the course, these trained technicians are free to join Maruti Suzuki service network or any other OEM. The high voltage training will be useful for Strong Hybrid cars also, and so there is a synergy between both technologies. Because a car is only as good as the person who services it.”
According to Nalinikanth Gollagunta, CEO-Automotive Division, Mahindra & Mahindra, there’s value in continuous customer engagement for SDVs. “It's an ongoing engagement over a period of time and you will have to do it at multiple different channels. The car will keep getting updates. That is just the way mobile phones are. This presents a new paradigm for both manufacturers and customers,” he said.
To enhance the SDV experience, Mahindra is actively integrating voice-based interfaces and reaching out to their robust user communities to facilitate two way interaction. . "We are using Gen AI and other advanced technologies to enable real-time support, where a customer can ask a question and get an instant response,” Gollagunta added. “It’s about making the car smarter, more intuitive, and more connected to the user’s everyday life.”
Right to Win the Mass Market
For Hyundai’s Tarun Garg, the road to widespread EV adoption isn’t driven by price cuts or temporary incentives alone. “A few thousand rupees may look attractive, but no customer chooses an EV purely for that,” he said. “The real catalyst is trust — and that comes from visible, reliable infrastructure.” Garg sees the government’s recent shift in focus, especially the Rs 20,000 crore allocation under the PM e-Bus Sewa and EV scheme (PM e-Drive), as a pivotal move.
“When the government commits to investing in fastcharging networks, it reassures consumers. That’s what truly drives adoption.” The early signs, he says, are already visible on the ground. “EV penetration has nearly doubled in just six months. If this trend continues, we could start 2025 at around 5.5% – 6%,” he noted. Garg believes that this momentum will compound quickly.
“If December ends at 6%, and January starts there, it’s not long before we’re looking at 7–8% penetration. The hockey-stick growth is underway — it just hasn’t screamed from the headlines yet.” If there’s one insight automakers now agree on, it’s this: EV buyers want charging to be fast, accessible, and hassle-free — both at home and on highways. Addressing this need head-on, Hyundai is making a long-term bet on charging infrastructure, with plans to install 600 fast DC chargers across India by 2032, 89 of which are already operational. Also, we are providing 11 KW AC Home Charger with Creta Electric which can charge the car in approximately 4 - 5 hrs.
“Range anxiety remains the number one key concern for EV Consumers, and we’re very serious about resolving this concern. People want to use EVs just like ICE cars. And that means no compromise — charge fast, go far,” said Garg. However, nothing is devoid of challenges, not even setting up home charging infrastructure. "It just takes time to get approvals. It takes time to work with the apartment associations, it takes time to get all of these NOC signed off, getting load sanctioned with the power department,” Gollagunta says.
To streamline this, Mahindra is "front loading it with the sale of the vehicle rather than just waiting till the handover of the vehicle." Bharti believes that India’s EV success is incomplete without thinking globally. “With our new BEV, it will be the first time that India becomes an EV exporter at scale. We aim to export to more than 100 destinations. Not a few thousand units, but serious volumes to advanced markets like Europe and Japan. India is now the new global capital,” he said.
The real test, he says, lies not in the initial launch but in its long-term reliability and customer satisfaction. “The test of success of a model begins after the 13th month, that’s where we intend to stand out,” he said. To support this, Maruti is investing heavily in after-sales services, with 1,500 workshops across 1,000 cities, covering areas beyond just metropolitan cities. Every BEV will come with a home charger installed before delivery to eliminate first-day range anxiety.
The company is also working on setting up fast chargers in all top 100 cities, where 95 percent of EV sales currently take place. The goal, he says, is to make this BEV the primary car in the family, not a second car. And that requires bulletproof reliability. To further strengthen its long-term EV roadmap, Maruti plans to bring battery manufacturing to India.
With global battery prices softening and localised supply chains evolving, the company believes India is finally ready for EV scale. But Bharti cautions against EV hype cycles. “Globally, penetration has plateaued in many mature markets. We must build realism into our strategy. And that means reliable range, great after-sales, and deep infra,” he says.
Product Excitement is Key
Gollagunta expressed strong optimism, emphasizing that the success of EVs will hinge on delivering truly “wow” products that captivate consumers. Experts say the ICE-converted EV products like Verito, Verito Vibe, and XUV400 proved to Mahindra that it needs to create a compelling product that customers will buy. In April and May, EVs grew by 88%.
"A lot of it has been driven by our volumes. You are starting to get to a point where the vehicles are showing up and in India, social validation is a critical part of any of these purchases. The product has to create excitement. The product has to be something with truly taps into what an EV gives us opportunities and possibilities. What a Born Electric gives us are the advantages creating that product,” he said.
He contrasted this with derivative EV models. "There will be some takers, but that's not going to excite the market overall." A significant learning for Mahindra has been the unique sales process for EVs. "The first one is just the sale of the vehicle. Here is actually a sale of the category and then sale of the vehicle," Gollagunta said.
This means customers need time to understand EVs before choosing a specific model. "With Born Electrics especially the vehicles have so many different features, so many different ways you can tap into the benefit of the vehicle. It takes time to actually walk the customer through all of the features, all the bells and whistles... It takes more than one visit and it takes more than one format to do it,” he adds.
The process often involves multiple interactions, from initial interest to understanding variants, and finally, purchase and handover, which takes longer for EVs due to feature explanations. Post-purchase followups are also crucial to address queries and ensure customer comfort. Mahindra's long-term vision for EVs is rooted in product appeal.
"The hypothesis that we came into this market with, which is you put out a product which truly is exciting for the customer. People look at the vehicle and say, wow, this is an amazing vehicle,” he said. Mahindra is prioritizing the end-to-end customer experience. "Are we there for the customer longer term, not just with the sale? How do you make sure that dealers are geared up to make the process lot more seamless for the customer?"
These are the questions guiding their efforts. He highlighted the importance of customercentricity over market share numbers: "We are focused on that customer experience, customer by customer, one at a time rather than focused on when the EV penetration will go up. That is just an outcome of all the work we have to do that will happen when it happens." According to Gollagunta, four key customer concerns remain: battery health, what happens to the battery health, age of the battery, etc., price parity against ICE and resale value and charging infrastructure.
"Some of this we addressed like of course the lifetime warranty. There’s a common misconception about EV pricing. They take the entry level ICE variant and they compare with the EV. The reality is you can't do that because by definition an EV variant will have an automatic transmission. And so you have to do the right comparable variant. And if you do that, we are close to price parity or in some variants I already see across the industry by the way, the EV being slightly cheaper, on road compared to one hands,” he explains.
Hybrids, a distraction?
Hybrids are increasingly emerging as a distraction for potential EV buyers, offering a middle path that feels safer and more familiar. With no need for charging infrastructure and the reassurance of a petrol backup, many consumers see hybrids as a less risky alternative. As a result, some fence-sitters who might have considered an EV are now leaning toward hybrids, delaying full-electric adoption and muddying the narrative around clean mobility transitions.
Gollagunta views Hybrids as a customer choice but not a strategic imperative for the nation. "Hybrids have been out there in the market and continue to be there. It will be a choice the customer has to make at some point in time. However, do you need to incentivize that technology which is 20 years old and what does it do for us as a nation?” he says.
He adds that if India truly wants to address its most pressing strategic imperatives—whether it’s cutting down the fuel import bill, meeting emission reduction targets, or preparing Indian industry to compete in the global electric mobility market—the clear answer is EVs, not hybrids.
"Hybrids will be there and will compete with us and we are totally ok with that. But from an incentivization perspective, our view is very clear that why would you want to incentivize a product which is not cutting edge, which does not solve the strategic imperatives that we have as a nation and therefore should not be getting Maruti Suzuki’s Bharti dismisses the growing industry rhetoric of BEVs versus HEVs as a false binary." “It is not EVs versus Hybrids.
It is EVs plus Hybrids. EVs today are only at 3% penetration. Should we allow thebalance 97% cars to consume oil and pollute endlessly ? If there is a technology (4th gen Strong Hybrids) that increases fuel efficiency by upto 44% and reduces CO2 by 31% over these pure petrol/ diesel cars, why not convert these pure petrol/diesel cars to such a technology? Since strong hybrids use a battery and a motor, they have a viability issue that needs support.”
Ultimately, Bharti believes the EV game isn’t about who gets to the market first or makes the most buzz — it is about earning customer trust and confidence over time. “ EVs will become mainstream when people believe in them,” he said. What India needs, he adds, is not just gizmos, but also reliability. “If you get the range right, build the appropriate infrastructure that supports customers, train the professionals behind the product, and offer excellent after sale support, customers will automatically find value in them and lap up the product. You need to get that right.”
The Way Ahead
As India’s EV ecosystem gains maturity, the next 12 months areexpected to be transformative. A new wave of launches is poised to expand consumer choice and strengthen brand presence acrossvarious segments. Tata Motors will introduce the much-anticipatedSierra EV, a lifestyle electric SUV that builds on its early-moveradvantage and design-led appeal.
Mahindra & Mahindra is preparingto roll out more accessible variants of its Born Electric BE6 and the XEV9e, aiming to broaden the reach of its portfolio with sharperpricing and expanded appeal. At the same time, Kia, Maruti Suzuki, and Honda are gearing up tolaunch their first mainstream EVs, marking a pivotal moment forIndia’s electric mobility landscape.
These trusted, high-volume brandsbring not only scale and credibility but also the power to influencebuyer confidence across urban and semi-urban markets. Industryexperts believe that with this combined momentum, EV penetration —currently at 4.4%, could potentially triple within the following year. Crucially, visibility will be key.
“There’s no better advertisement thanseeing the vehicle on the road,” says an industry executive. As moreEVs become part of India’s daily streetscape, they normalize thetechnology and ease consumer hesitation. With growing infrastructure,falling battery costs, and a broader mix of compelling products, 2026 could well mark the inflection point when EVs transition from early adoption to mainstream reality.