The overall EV sale in last fiscal was 7,59,600 units including 6,30,000 electric three-wheelers, 1,26,000 electric two-wheelers and 3,600 electric four-wheelers
India’s emerging electric vehicle (EV) industry has taken a leap by selling more than 7.5 lakh units in the fiscal of 2018-19, according to a latest data compiled by the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV), an association of Indian manufacturers of EVs and their components.
For the first time, the EV industry registered a growth of huge 31.8 per cent in 2018-19, as compared to the previous financial year, the report says.
The growth in EVs sale in the country is in line with the government’s drive towards electric mobility in an effort to control the increasing vehicular pollution, along with the government’s vision of having nearly 30 per cent of electric vehicles on road by 2030.
Growth in all three segments
According to the report, the industry has witnessed a growth in all the three segments – two-wheelers, three-wheelers and four-wheelers. The overall EV sale in last fiscal was 7,59,600 units including 6,30,000 electric three-wheelers, 1,26,000 electric two-wheelers and 3,600 electric four-wheelers. The electric two-wheelers recorded a growth of 130 per cent over the previous fiscal and four-wheelers witnessed a growth of 200 per cent. On the other hand, electric three-wheelers witnessed a growth of 21 per cent.
Commenting on the findings, Sohinder Gill, Director General of SMEV, said, “In a country that has an automobile market of over 2.5 crore vehicles, EV industry is only 3 per cent of it, which is miniscule. Further to this, SMEV’s analysis reveals that post implementation of the FAME II scheme there has been a drastic brought down in the sales of electric vehicles for the month of April of current financial year due to lack of incentives for private EVs.”
Gill further said, “Though the result for FY 2018-19 shows an exciting growth compared to the previous year, the industry continues to be concerned about the future of electric vehicles post implementation of the new FAME II from April 1, 2019. If the trend as observed in April continues, it will be very difficult to achieve even 50 per cent of the expected target by 2030.”
“There is a need of corrective measures and supportive policies under the second phase of FAME to pick up the pace which the industry lost at the beginning of the current financial year, in order to cross the benchmark created by it in the last financial year,” he added.
