There are almost 25+ news articles about electric vehicles in India every day. The topics covering India towards electric vehicles adoption, India will beat China in terms of EVs consumption e.t.c. , but what actually happening in the market is quite different. It’s going on a slope of disruptions every time. No one has a perfect idea about the Electric Vehicles market in India.
From the last 3 years almost 100+ electric vehicle summits, conferences and events happening in India. But we hardly see a single digit number of electric cars on major cities of India. PM Modi announcing that India going to be the Driver of Electric Vehicles, but EV charging stations are nill. So let us have a look at the major challenges of electric vehicles industry in India.
The 7 Challenges of Electric Vehicles Market in India
Financial Support
Financing is the major challenge of Electric vehicles industry today, many dealers unable to enter into EVs business because of financing. Government banks asking many details form Autowalas to sanction a loan for Electric Auto or E Rickshaw. Only big players in EV industries are giving financial support.
Reasons for lacking Financiers Support
- No resale value for EVs
- Lack of public awareness
Advertisements
Believe it or not, there is not even a single advertisement about Electric vehicles on Television. Even the
Mahindra & Mahindra not promoting their products in the television sector. No state government supporting electric vehicles in government-related adds.
Reasons for laking of Advertisements
- A fear that people will shift to electric mobility
- If electric vehicles sales increases, the fuel vehicles already manufactured and stored in warehouses will be a loss for Conventional car companies.
Public Awareness
There are two type of customers, product-centric and price-centric.
Product-centric: In this category, people will buy a product with the branding and good wheel.
Price centric: In this category, people will buy a product with price factor irrespective of the market.
People still have doubts about the incentives provided by the government, many of them not believing that the money will credit into their account. They have doubts like, what if my vehicle stops suddenly at an unknown place, there are no charging stations available. The government failed in creating awareness about electric vehicles.
Market Integrity
Electric vehicles market integrated with several factors like technology, batteries, government policies, Todays EVs scenario is like, let the others do it first then I’ll join them. There is a lack of integrity in EVs market.
From a manufacturer to Consumer, there are some interlinked factors comes to the picture. Its important for any business to balance the market chain. But, EVs market chain is unhealthy as of today, the manufacturers are ready, the dealers are ready, the technology is ready but the connectivity is lacking.
State & Central Government Policies
There is no clear announcement about the FAME II yet, some EV manufacturing companies saying that the policy may come in December. These kinds of unclear statements tend to lose trust in Government policies. They should be more conscious while announcing the policies because of many manufacturers future and money depend on it.
Even state governments too playing the mind game with manufacturers saying that they will proceed with the central government policy. There is a lack of connection between the center and state government too.
Charging Stations
It is like the heart of EVs today, Several factors are still under dilemma. Even a fast charger takes 2 hours to charge an electric car, how come the manufacturer or dealer convince the customer to buy the electric vehicles to bare the charging time.
The charging infrastructure is almost null in India. The only city in India with charging infrastructure is Bengaluru because of Ather Grid. Even Hero Motorcorp have taken a major share in Ather Energy. The central government partnership with to set up charging stations in HP petrol bunks, but the process is too slow.
At least 5% of charging stations are required to speed up the e mobility transformation in India.Dealers and entrepreneurs having this major pushback for investment in electric vehicles.
Adoption
There is no doubt with new technologies comes new employment opportunities and new markets. But how well the adoption takes place is the question. Shifting from conventional vehicle market to EVs market takes a standard amount of time. The factors like policies, trust building, technology, also play a dominant role in market adoption.
These 7 challenges are some of the factors, but there are lot more to explore. However, standard policies from the government and Public awareness are the key to EVs market success in India. A government-private partnership is one best way to promote electric vehicles in India. It will take almost 5 years from now for a stable EVs market in India.
