Tamil Nadu has overtaken Gujarat in total EV registrations in 2023 to become the fourth-largest player among the States, supported by an acceleration in the adoption of battery-powered vehicles and favourable policy sops.

Uttar Pradesh was on top mainly due to higher volumes of e-rickshaws, which made up about 78 per cent of total EV registrations in that State. Maharashtra was in the second position, while Karnataka was the third big State.

If UP’s e-rickshaw numbers are excluded, Tamil Nadu will be the third-largest player in EV registrations among the States in 2023. Last year, the total EV registrations of Maharashtra stood at 194,289 units, compared to 136,048 units in 2022, while Karnataka’s total EV registrations grew to 152,417 units in 2023, from 95,899 units in 2022. Uttar Pradesh’s total EV volumes stood at 277,908 units in 2023 against 162,864 units, according to Vahan data.

EV sales in Tamil Nadu continue to be strong, and the State has emerged as one of the leading in terms of companies setting up their manufacturing units across the EV value chain.

Tamil Nadu’s EV registrations grew to 90,241 units from 66,954 units, while Gujarat’s EV volumes stood at 88,621 units against 68,997 units.

In the electric two-wheeler sales in Tamil Nadu, Ather Energy is the leader in terms of volumes (it sold 15,825 units in 2023), followed by TVS Motor (14,393 units), Ola Electric (13,608 units) and Greaves Electric (13,597 units). In the electric PV segment (includes cars and SUVs), Tata Motors is the leader with more than 50 per cent share, followed by MG Motor, M&M, and BYD. A little over 6,000 units of electric cars and SUVs were sold in Tamil Nadu during the year.

“The state government launched a revised “Tamil Nadu Electric Vehicles Policy 2023” and earmarked Chennai, Coimbatore, Tiruchirappalli, Madurai, Salem, and Tirunelveli as EV hubs to bolster the state government growth towards EVs. We see these policies along with the investments by EV makers as a favorable development to the state’s progress towards the EV ecosystem,” Kumar Rakesh, Analyst - IT & Auto, BNP Paribas India told BusinessLine.

The State Government has already indicated that it is committed to securing $6 billion in investments, which will generate job opportunities for 150,000 people, in the EV sector over the next 5 years. The upcoming Global Investors Meet is expected to witness announcements on large investments by a host of companies, including Vietnamese EV firm VinFast, which is expected to commit more than ₹12,000 crore of investments in the State.

Kerala story

Though Kerala’s total EV registrations were lower than other leading States, the penetration levels of battery electric vehicles in the two-wheeler and passenger vehicle segments were the highest. Kerala’s overall EV registrations were at 75,557 units in 2023 (39,619 units in 2022). But the electric vehicle share in the wheeler segment stood at about 13 per cent, while the penetration was 5 per cent in the electric passenger vehicle segment.

After Kerala, Karnataka is the only State that has double-digit penetration in the electric two-wheeler segment at 11 per cent in 2023. Maharashtra and Delhi reported penetration of 9.4 per cent each though Maharashtra’s volumes were four times higher than Delhi.

In the electric PV segment, Karnataka, Delhi, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Gujarat achieved penetrations of 4 per cent, 4 per cent, 3 per cent, 2.3 per cent and 2 per cent respectively.

In Uttar Pradesh, electric two-wheeler penetration was 1.6 per cent, while in the electric PV segment, it was less than a percentage.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW