NH48 highway in India. The country’s electric automobile sector is small in comparison with other major economies equivalent to China and the USA
Photography of St. | digital vision | Getty Images
With a huge population, military and economy, India is seen by many as a country whose influence could greatly increase because the twenty firstst century progresses.
Nonetheless, in relation to electric cars, the country is playing a catch-up game.
That is because while China, Europe and the US have grow to be the hubs of shopping for electric cars – greater than 50% of the cars on the road are now present in China, based on the International Energy Agency “India is kind of far behind for the time being.
Change could also be just across the corner, nevertheless, as IEA’s Global EV Outlook for 2023 notes India’s battery electric vehicle sales hit nearly 50,000 in 2022, 4 times the previous 12 months’s figure, but still down from 4.4 million sold in China.
Along with the rise in sales, the IEA said India can also be seeing “growth” in each electric vehicle and component production.
This was backed by a $3.2 billion incentive program from the Indian government, which in turn led to an investment of $8.3 billion.
With all this in mind, the leadership of a few of the world’s largest automotive firms is advocating establishing a foothold in India.
Amongst them is the president of Stellantis’ Citroën Brand, which believes India’s electric vehicle sector, while in its early stages of development, might be “absolutely perfect” due to the best way people use cars there.
During a recent interview with CNBC’s Charlotte Reed, Thierry Koskas admitted that the market in India is “just getting began.”
“But we’ve got great hopes for this market because a lot of cars in India are utilized in cities or suburbs, and this might be absolutely perfect for electric vehicles,” he added.
Citroën India, which launched the all-electric ë-C3 in February 2023, is just not alone in driving the emerging Indian electric automobile sector.
Other firms doing the identical include Volvo Cars with the all-electric XC40 Recharge and Audi with the e-tron.
I spoke to Autocar India in 2021, the top of Audi India expressed his belief that the electric vehicle sector on this country will proceed to grow.
“I believe [the] the four-wheel industry is one [area]but there may also be a two-wheel industry, even buses on the electric side to return, and likewise three-wheelers.” Balbir Singh Dhillon he said.
“So I believe the entire ecosystem will develop at a much faster pace than we will imagine,” he added.
A compacted field
Firms like Audi, Volvo Cars and Stellantis are specializing in a market where several major Indian players are already energetic.
They include Dad’s engines, which incorporates Jaguar Land Rover amongst its subsidiaries. In accordance with the IEA, Tata was answerable for greater than 85% of battery electric vehicle sales in India last 12 months.
Other Indian firms vying for position within the sector include Mahindra and Mahindra and Ola Electric.
In August 2022, the latter’s CEO, Bhavish Aggarwal, said his company would launch an all-electric vehicle that would go from zero to 100 kilometers per hour (just over 62 miles per hour) in 4 seconds. On the time, the corporate said it planned to launch the automobile in 2024.
While there’s much talk in India in regards to the potential of electric cars, much work must be done in the event that they are to grow to be a key a part of the transportation system.
“In India and all regions outside the highest three EV markets, EV sales are expected to account for 2-3% of automobile sales in 2023, a relatively small but growing share,” the IEA notes.
Citroën’s Koskas stays stubborn, nevertheless. “We launched the electric version of the C3 six months after the launch of the ICE [internal combustion engine] vehicle – nobody else has done it,” he told CNBC.
Despite the speed at which a company like Citroën can move, the indisputable fact that fossil fuel powered vehicles are still being launched shows just how much the automotive industry may have to alter if electric vehicles are to grow to be dominant in India and around the globe .
It’s a huge task, but Koskas seemed optimistic in regards to the future in India. “We are currently considered one of the few manufacturers present on this market of electric vehicles,” he said.
“It’s marginal today – we imagine it should increase significantly in the long run and we are very pleased to be present as considered one of the primary newcomers to this market.”