Hype or Future?

It is pragmatic yet engaging that EVs are not vrooming out of car dealerships as anticipated, despite being loaded to the gills with Next-World bells and whistles

- RAJEEV NARAYAN

India's electric vehicle revolution should have turned into a fireworks show by now. Instead, it feels like a modestly-attended birthday party with polite applause, some stuttering moves and a load of fizzled-out romances. Consider that moment in 2021 when everyone oohed and aah-ed that India would go electric overnight.

Every brand from homegrown giants to wannabe global players threw glossy launches at a starstruck nation—Nexon, MG ZS, BYD, XUV400s. Social media bladders tinkled with belated relief that India's EV future hath cometh.

Fast forward to today and the revolution is less a 'Tesla moment' and more of a speed bump no one saw coming. Sales are growing, sure, but not at the pace that the hype-train sold us on. Even today, charging bays remain rarer than polite drivers. Range anxiety refuses to give way. And families continue their living room whispers: "Should we wait another year?"

As an auto expert said, "EVs in India are like weight-loss resolutions. The intentions are great, but the follow-through is inconsistent."

Here's a truth nobody likes admitting. India's charging infrastructure is still a patchy, uneven quilt. Metro cities may have made strides, with fast-chargers popping up in malls like aggro retail interns. But drive 20 km off any highway and battery anxiety kicks in. EV owners share stories that feel half-adventurish, half-cautionary. Waiting 90 minutes at a charging outlet because the car ahead refuses to power up beyond 7 per cent. Charging stations on the blip for maintenance. Chargers where the plug does not fit, or the app refuses to cooperate.

This is not a claim that progress is not happening. It is. But as one analyst put it, "We built the EVs much faster than we built the world they need to survive in."