Bhargava believes India needs EVs that are essentially designed for intracity use, and for intercity commuting, the lack of charging infrastructure is the major challenge.
02 Jan 2025 | 4954 Views | By Kiran Murali & Ketan Thakkar
Electric vehicle adoption in India’s passenger vehicle industry is still in the nascent stage with penetration rate in the low-single digits. RC Bhargava, non-executive chairman of India’s largest passenger carmaker Maruti Suzuki, believes that EVs have to be designed specifically to meet the unique needs and conditions of the Indian ...
This is an Autocar Pro Plus article. Subscribe to continue reading.
Electric vehicle adoption in India’s passenger vehicle industry is still in the nascent stage with penetration rate in the low-single digits. RC Bhargava, non-executive chairman of India’s largest passenger carmaker Maruti Suzuki, believes that EVs have to be designed specifically to meet the unique needs and conditions of the Indian market for a wider adoption here, rather than designing it in line with Western consumer standards.
“My views on EVs for India are not necessarily the views of Maruti Suzuki or Toyota or anybody else. The EV market in India is different from the EV market in Europe and the US. When you're designing EVs, you're designing EVs on the standards that are acceptable to consumers in the US and Europe,” Bhargava told Autocar Professional in an exclusive interaction.
“Aspiration is different for various reasons. For instance, in America, cars are the most common transport even for intercity traveling, while in India, it is the trains. Another factor is the lack of charging infrastructure for the intercity commute in India. So, the country needs EVs which are essentially designed for intracity use.”
Bhargava’s comments come as all major Indian OEMs are preparing for a slew of electric vehicle launches. Maruti Suzuki is set to showcase its production-ready version of its first EV eVitara at the Bharat Mobility Expo in January. M&M recently unveiled its first set of Born Electric SUVs - BE 6 and XEV 9e – which are to be on the roads in late February or early March. Hyundai India will unveil their first EV, an electric variant of the mid-size SUV Creta at the Expo, while Tata Motors is expected to show the production-ready version of Sierra EV.
Though many of the OEMs are prioritizing sales in cost-conscious Indian markets, they are developing EVs that can be adapted for different regions as part of their global strategy. For instance, Maruti Suzuki is planning to export its eVitara to Europe and Japan before launching them in India. Automakers are trying to make their vehicles globally competitive, particularly targeting European markets where they see a significant opportunity in the affordable EV segment, a space currently dominated by Chinese manufacturers.
“There has to be a recalibration of thought on EV designing for India, if you are designing for exports to Europe, you have a different concept. If you are designing for use in India, it has to be different,” Bhargava said.
The penetration of EVs in India’s passenger vehicle segment remains low compared to many advanced economies as EV sales continue to be in a slow lane. The share of electric vehicles in India’s car sales remains around 2%, while in China, Europe and the US, the share is around 35%, 20% and 10%, respectively.
The Indian government has been promoting the adoption of electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers through various incentives, including subsidies and lower taxes. While electric car buyers in India do not receive direct government subsidies, they benefit from the reduced GST rate of 5%, helping reduce the price gap between EV and ICE variants. Most of the electric cars available are priced above Rs 15 lakh in a market where the average selling price of cars is around Rs 12 lakh.
Meanwhile, Bhargava noted that inadequate charging infrastructure is seen as a big bottleneck in the widespread adoption of EVs in India. There are around 25,000 EV public charging stations in India. However, India lags behind many matured EV markets in charging infrastructure as it has only one charger for close to 135 vehicles. Tata Motors, India’s largest electric vehicle maker, has also recently highlighted the need to focus on improving the charging infrastructure in the country to sustain the growth momentum as early adopters of EVs may be subsiding.
“There is another problem— the lack of charging infrastructure at home or near home. Around 95% of private car users drive no more than 50 to 100 kilometers a day, mostly within the city. Given that most people park their cars at home with access to a charging point, charging overnight is a simple solution. For this, we need a massive charging infrastructure,” Bhargava said while adding that EVs will never become 100% in India because many users of small cars do not have a proper parking space.
Despite a narrowing price gap between EVs and traditional gasoline-powered cars, many consumers considering a switch from fossil fuels remain hesitant to embrace EVs primarily due to concerns over the accessibility of charging infrastructure. India has recently witnessed robust growth in the sales of vehicles powered by hybrid engines despite having a very higher tax compared with EVs.
Several consumers see hybrids as a strong alternative to diesel, not only to give a higher fuel efficiency than petrol but also to offer the experience of an EV without range anxiety, given the limited charging infrastructure in the country. Around 90,000 hybrid vehicles were sold in India, accounting for nearly 2% of the total cars sold in the country, in the financial year 2023-24.
Maruti Suzuki has been advocating that hybrid cars are cleaner than EVs in terms of well-to-wheel carbon emissions in the current scenario, considering that almost 75% of India's energy is today generated by coal.