Electric Vehicle sales rise 37.5% to 22,000 units last fiscal

Electric vehicle sales rose 37.5% to 22,000 units last fiscal as against 16,000 units in the previous year. During the last fiscal, 20,000 units of two-wheelers and 2,000 units of four wheeler electric vehicles (EVs) were sold, Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) said in a statement. 

"We are quite delighted at the growing number, which reflects increased awareness among commuters and the fact that people are seeing a good value proposition in EVs," Sohinder Gill, SMEV Director - Corporate Affairs said.

He, however, pointed out that base number of EVs in the country remained low and the government at every level will have to do more to achieve the ambitious but desirable target of having 5-6 million EVs on Indian roads by 2020.

"Intentions at policy level abound but the government at every level, be it the Centre, state or municipal, now has to go extra mile to facilitate mass migration to green mobility," Gill said. Lack of basic infrastructure facilities like charging stations and difficulties in availing credit from banks for purchase of EVs are some of the major bottlenecks for large scale migration to green mobility, he added.