EV Market in India Faces Unique Challenges

The market’s changing demands are complicating things for EV charging station companies and other network suppliers — with the two-wheeler, three-wheeler and four-wheeler vehicles dividing the EV industry. This does even include bigger vehicles such as electric trucks and electric buses. The charging infrastructure needed for electric two-wheeler and three-wheeler vehicles is quite different from that of four-wheeled vehicles.

Although electric cars need a more systematic approach, in terms of public and private charging facilities, two-wheeler and three-wheeler vehicles have a minimum requirement or need. On the other hand, there is no need for massive infrastructure for electric two-wheelers, since their owners already charge them at home.

In the case of three-wheelers, the vehicles are used widely as a fleet for commercial reasons, wherein they have their infrastructure. Hence, it seems less profitable to invest in public and private services for these two types of automobiles. At the same time, battery manufacturers believe that these vehicles need some facilities such as battery swapping stations and charging stations for customers.

According to a recent study, 85% charging of electric vehicles takes place at the home of an owner, where most of them live in single homes. It becomes a daunting job for those living in apartments or gated communities, particularly for customers who have no reserved parking facilities, inaccessible electric meters, distorted electric charging ports and others.

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Most of the consumers fail to mount a home charger due to problems such as configuring electricity metering to a different home and building requirements, no guidelines for electrical connections, lack of appropriate places for installing chargers and more.

Many consumers today are first-time owners transitioning to the electric vehicle and are unaware of the consequences. If the initial experience goes bad, customers can regret the choice they made. Therefore, ensuring that its customers have a trouble-free experience, both intercity and intracity, is essential for OEMs and electric vehicle infrastructure firms.

The state and central governments have been making every effort to encourage the country’s adoption of electric vehicles through new policies and structures for the electric vehicle market.

While the focus has been increased on innovative ways of promoting the inclusion of electric vehicles at the national level, there have also been several state governments at the policy level.

The central government approved about 138 charging stations for the state of Telangana. Also, Bengaluru will soon have 112 charging stations for electric vehicles, while also proposing 12 fast-charging outlets.

For any clarifications/feedback on the topic, please contact the writer at bhavana.pn@cleartax.in