The electric vehicle (EV) market in the country continues to gather momentum as August saw 11 per cent month-on-month increase in EV sales at 28,919 units across categories.

New FAME subsidies, pent-up demand and launch of new electric vehicles have created positive mood among the buyers

This is reported to be the highest-ever monthly EV sales number. Sales were driven by electric two and three wheelers as both accounted for about 92 per cent of total EV sales in August.

During July 2021, total registered EV sales stood at 26,127 units, while in July 2020, total EV sales were at 7,512.

New milestone

Electric mobility achieved a new milestone in India as EV sales crossed the 2 per cent mark for the first time in monthly vehicle sales in India. 21 EVs were sold for every 1000 internal combustion engine vehicles sold in August 2021, according to the CEEW Centre for Energy Finance.

“Pent up demand from the second wave slowdown got triggered due to additional FAME subsidies in June 2021 thus boosting the customer confidence and also higher promise by OEMs. Also launch of new models from OLA and Ather helped in creating some excitement,” said Himani Jain, Senior Programme Lead, CEEW (Council on Energy, Environment and Water).

Also see: On-demand electric car charging at consumers’ doorstep

Till date (for the current fiscal), close to 83,772 electric vehicles across categories were sold in India. Electric three wheelers account for a major portion, followed by electric two wheelers. More than 40,278 electric three wheelers have been sold, while electric two wheelers’ sales stood at about 38,430 units. Sales of electric four wheelers was at a little over 3,510.

Last month, electric car sales stood at 961 units, with Tata Motors and MG Motors accounting for 95 per cent of registrations during the month.

FAME-II

While new electric vehicle launches continue to keep up excitement, the recent FAME-II notification which increased incentives on EVs has resulted in a drop in their prices.

“The revised benefits under FAME-II scheme and attractive EV incentives available in some states, combined with high fuel prices, have galvanised demand for EVs in the two wheeler segment,” said Suraj Ghosh, Associate Director, Powertrain & Compliance Forecasts, South Asia, IHS Markit.

The Central government also indicated that petrol and diesel prices will not go down, and this may favour electric vehicle segment.

Among all the states and UTs, Uttar Pradesh continues to have maximum monthly registered EV sales with a 20 per cent share in overall sales in India in August 2021. Karnataka has the 2nd highest sales at a 13 per cent share, followed by Tamil Nadu (11 per cent) and Maharashtra (10 per cent), according to JMK Research and Analytics.

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