ELECTRIC YEAR

THE FUTURE IS HERE—on four wheels and it is electric. 2025 is shaping up to be the year electric car sales hit the accelerator in India with a flurry of launches. While Tata Motors is the leader of the pack by volume, JSW MG Motor India—JSW Group's joint venture with China’s SAIC Motor—is closing in. A reignited Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is not far behind.

- BY KARAN DHAR

In a first, India’s electric vehicles (EV) industry crossed the sales milestone of 100,000 units in FY25. This was despite electric car sales growth crashing from a whopping 90% in the previous fiscal to 18% year-on-year (YoY) at 108,000 units, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam). The deceleration, attributed to a global narrative of doom and gloom, resulted in an almost stagnant EV penetration of 2.6% in FY25.

However, a slew of launches this year ensured that this tepid growth is a thing of the past. In Q1FY26, battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) accounted for 4.1% of total car sales, up from 2.4% in Q1FY24. "What is heartening is, instead of a few products from a few manufacturers, we now have many more options in the market. The sheer number of choices will make it a more attractive market and lead to higher EV penetration," says Rajesh Menon, director general, Siam.

The options notwithstanding, three interesting trends define the high traction. “For one, products are coming with a lifetime warranty. They also have a range touching 500 km per charge. Lastly, the charging time is less than half an hour,” says Menon. “This wasn’t the case until a year ago. We didn’t have products with so many propositions.”

The remarkable growth was particularly driven by the premium segment, where car buyers don’t fret about higher upfront costs and access to home charging. There is no range anxiety because these customers may own multiple cars. On the contrary, entry-level EVs face an eternal challenge of range anxiety owing to smaller batteries and a gaping price difference compared to their internal-combustion engine (ICE) counterparts.