Don't get over-excited about electric cars, Indian market is still at nascent stage
The electric car market is moving forward at a snail's pace in India, still at a nascent stage, with the zero tailpipe emission models accounting for just over 2% of the total passenger vehicles (PVs) sold in the country in FY24.
According to recent data from the industry body, Federation Of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), PV sales increased 8.45% year-on-year (y-o-y) at 3,948,143 units in FY24 from 3,640,399 units in FY23.
The electric cars recorded a handsome 91.37% y-o-y growth in sales at 90,996 units in FY24 from 47,551 units in FY23.
Although the share of electric cars in the total PVs sold in India rose in FY24, it was merely 2.3%. The contribution was 1.31% in FY23.
The sector experts say that the volumes will grow once there are more mass-segment electric cars in the Indian market.
For reference, there are just a handful of electric cars priced below Rs 20 lakh (ex-showroom) at present, such as the Tata Tiago.ev, Tata Tigor.ev, Tata Nexon.ev, MG Comet EV, MG ZS EV, Citroen E-C3 and Mahindra XUV400.
While Maruti Suzuki does not offer any electric car at present, Hyundai has two models — Kona Electric (Rs 23.84 lakh, ex-showroom) and Ioniq 5 (Rs 46.05 lakh, ex-showroom).
The good thing is that Maruti Suzuki will introduce its maiden EV, the eVX, next year. Also, Hyundai is expected to launch a new EV, which might be based on the Creta, this year. But these two models are expected to be priced over Rs 20 lakh (ex-showroom).
Tata Motors currently leads the electric car market in India with sales of 64,217 units in FY24, logging in a growth of 65.82% y-o-y from 38,728 units in FY23. The homegrown auto major had a share of 70.57% in FY24.
The luxury EV space is led by BMW. Its sales climbed 260.41% y-o-y at 1,420 units in FY24 from 394 units in FY23.
The sector experts are also of the opinion that a rapid expansion of the public charging infrastructure is essential for the growth of the electric car market in India.
In February 2024, the government said that as many as 12,146 public EV charging stations were operational across the country.
