Transition to BEV not a choice, an imperative, Tata Motors on course for 50% penetration by 2030, says Shailesh Chandra

The long-term story of Battery Electric Vehicle is not a choice, it is an imperative - says Shailesh Chandra, MD of Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, as all the nations have signed up for net carbon zero, and hence, "there is no choice, it is only a matter of how fast transition is going to happen."

Having led the development of the electric car market in India over the last five years - Chandra says that "forecasting for new technology is very difficult to predict," when it comes to penetration, hence it is up to companies to fix targets and work on it.

As Tata Motors' Chandra explained, "If we have to be net carbon zero by 2070 as a nation then all actions have to start now. We as a company have taken (a target) of 2040 to be net carbon zero. I know that if we are not at 50% level at Tata Motors, I am not on my path. We are very clear that we will be 50% by 2030 as a company and do everything to bring all ecosystem players together to work towards that kind of target."

India which is the third largest market in the world today has a penetration of 2 percent of EVs, but Tata Motors has already seen EVs accounting for 15-16 percent of its total sales and about 20 percent of its total revenues.

"We are very confident with all the models that you know we are going to launch, we are absolutely on the path of hitting 50%," assured Chandra.

The emphatic assertion comes at a time, when the overall electric vehicle market has hit a speed bump. Even in India, the transition from old Nexon EV to the new Nexon EV - led to some correction in July to September quarter.

Chandra admitted that he has been "intrigued" at the "flurry of articles on gloom and doom around EVs". 

He said his fact checking the data showed a different picture. He informed that in the 9 months of 2023, the BEV market worldwide has grown by 33 percent on a strong base. Key markets like China (26%), top five markets of Europe (40%) and US (64%) have grown in a strong double digit.

"The fact is EVs are growing at a pace, one can always question the pace of growth at which one was expecting, as there has been a steep growth curve so far. When you compare it with 100% growth, there is a slight slowdown, because of local factors," said Chandra.

To be sure, the US market is witnessing economic uncertainty and high interest rates, so three is a slowdown and due to forecasting error, there is a stock build up. In Germany, one of the biggest markets in Europe, the subsidy has been reduced hence there is a slowdown and China is in a consolidation phase, post subsidy reduction.

As far as India goes, Chandra informed, that in the first half of this financial year, the car market has grown by 107% and Tata Motors too has grown over 76%.

If anything, the market has started witnessing more action from the rivals, which was very evident in high volumes of Q1 number - which players like Mahindra, Stellantis and MG filling up the channels with stock in Q1, which stabilised in Q2 - which should not be seen negatively.

"I think the growth rates are going to be strong. The long-term story of BEV is not a choice. It is an imperative because all the nations have signed for net carbon zero. The same pressure is on all the OEMs. There is no choice. It is only a matter of how fast this is going to happen," he reiterated.

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