Is India Really Set to Have 123 Million EVs on Roads by 2032?

New Delhi, May 6 (NationPress) India is poised for a remarkable increase in electric vehicles (EVs), with a projection of 123 million EVs expected on the roads by 2032, according to a report released on Tuesday.

This trajectory is a crucial step towards sustainable progress and achieving net zero emissions by 2070, emphasizing the significance of adopting EVs that can enhance India’s economy while facilitating the ambitious goal set for 2030 — a 30 percent EV penetration, as outlined by the report from the India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) and Customised Energy Solutions (CES).

The report indicates that India’s total on-road lithium-ion electric vehicle population has skyrocketed almost twelvefold, from 0.35 million in 2019 to 4.4 million by 2024.

This swift expansion has been propelled by favorable government initiatives, such as the FAME-II scheme, which provides incentives for electric two-wheelers, three-wheelers, and four-wheelers, alongside financial support for public charging infrastructure.

It also pointed out that electric two and three-wheelers together constituted over 93 percent of India’s on-road EV fleet in 2024.

In comparison, electric four-wheelers represented roughly 6 percent, while electric buses and trucks made up less than 1 percent.

Significantly, the personal electric four-wheeler (E4W) sector has emerged as a key factor in the growth of the nation’s private and home charging infrastructure.

To accommodate the anticipated EV surge, it is projected that India’s total installed EV charging points — both public and private — will need to increase nearly 12 to 28 times, expanding from about 76,000 in 2024 to between 0.9 million and 2.1 million by 2032, remarked Debmalya Sen, President of IESA.

Furthermore, the installed charging capacity must scale more than 17 times, increasing from 1.3 GW to 23 GW, contingent on levels of EV adoption and infrastructure utilization, Sen added.

Vinayak Walimbe, Managing Director of CES, noted that by 2032, IESA and CES predict that India’s on-road EV inventory could reach between 49 million (Worst Case), 60 million (Business-as-Usual), or 123 million (NEV scenario).

The NEV scenario is based on the EV30@30 ambition, which assumes that by 2030, EV penetration will achieve 80 percent for electric two- and three-wheelers, 30 percent for private electric four-wheelers, 70 percent for commercial cars, and 40 percent for electric buses — completely in line with NITI Aayog’s vision for electrifying transport, according to Walimbe.

According to the report, in 2024, there were around 220,000 personal electric four-wheelers (E4Ws) on the roads, most of which relied on Type-2 AC chargers located in residential areas.

By that same year, India had an estimated 320,000 private Type-2 AC chargers, with 70 percent being 3.3 kW units, 28 percent 7.4 kW units, and the rest 11-22 kW units classified as high-capacity.

India had approximately 76,000 cumulative public and private charging points in 2024, with a total installed capacity of 1.3 GW. While AC-001 chargers constituted nearly half of all installed points, the overall installed capacity was primarily represented by CCS2 chargers, illustrating the increasing demand for high-power DC fast charging, the report highlighted.

This growth, driven by supportive government policies and incentives, underscores a commitment to sustainable development and reduced carbon emissions.