Despite various incentives that India is providing to popularise electric vehicles (EVs), the share of these vehicles in the total number of new vehicles registered in the country is a miniscule 4.72 per cent.
What is urgently needed is a regulatory mandate for the vehicle industry to have a certain percentage of their production and sales as zero emissions vehicles (ZEV) – says a new assessment from Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).
Even though industry representatives from different vehicle segments – two- and three-wheelers, cars and buses — have taken a varying and conditional view of the prospect of implementing a ZEV mandate, nearly all have supported this strategy.
This was evident in the course of consultation meeting and dialogue organised by CSE with the vehicle manufacturing industry, government and other target groups, with technical support from CITI Forum, a think tank.
The CSE assessment comes in the backdrop of the hype created over EVs, with almost every auto major showcasing EV models at the ongoing Annual Auto Expo in Greater Noida, near the national capital.
“It is clear that in addition to incentives for consumers and fleet operators to purchase EVs (such as FAME II, or Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles and EV policies of state governments), an additional lever of ZEV mandate that requires manufacturers to sell a minimum specified number of ZEVs as a share of their overall sales in the market is necessary to push the zero emissions transition” ,says Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, CSE.
“As seen globally, this can help increase and diversify the product range, provide a roadmap to the industry to plan innovation and investments, push down prices, stimulate industry investments in promotion and charging infrastructure, and build confidence of investors and consumers,” she added.
This is needed to meet India’s intended targets and global pledges. These include the ministerial announcements of 30 per cent electrification by 2030; Niti Ayog’s ambition of 70-80 per cent electrification of the two- and 3-wheeler markets by 2030; and India signing on to the global zero emissions vehicle declaration of 100 per cent transition by 2030-2040 with specific mention of two- and three-wheelers. India is also a member of the ZEV Transition Council that represents 17 of the world’s largest vehicle markets.
In addition, as many as 21 state governments have notified EV policies with varying targets, incentives and mandates for infrastructure. Even the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) has stated its voluntary target for 40 per cent of new vehicle sales by 2030 and all new vehicle sales by 2047.
