Is growing EV adoption really good for India?
There is no doubt about the fact that EV adoption has taken off in India. The evidence of this is most prominently visible in the shape of e-rickshaws and electric two-wheelers that seem to be proliferating all around us. We also see a sizeable number of electric cars parked in Indian residential areas or moving around the roads of the larger cities of India. The EV sales in 2023 surpassed 1.5 million in 2023, a whopping 50% increase over the previous year. Overall EVs contributed to an already impressive 6.38% of India’s total auto sales. [1]
All of this seemingly is in line with the nation’s strategy of reducing the reliance on fossil fuels and contributing to the fight against environmental pollution. But is it really? While it is a fact that electric vehicles have no tail-pipe emissions, the source of the electricity being used to charge the batteries of these vehicles determines how much net pollution is caused by EVs. With coal accounting for 75% of the electricity produced in the country, [2]the increased use of electric vehicles may not actually contribute much to a cleaner environment.
Add to that the fact that electricity is heavily subsidized or even provided free to many in India’s rural hinterland and you begin to create a problem for yourself. There is already a proliferation of demand for electric two-wheelers in the rural…
