Electric Vehicles Manufacturers In India - Building for Corporates

Rajiv K Vij Aug 17, 2022

India is the fifth-largest automobile market in the world and is projected to grow to bag third place by 2030. With the global push for EVs and the country’s goal to achieve Net Zero Carbon Emissions by 2070, automobile manufacturers are shifting toward EVs. The Ministry of Heavy Industries reports that 0.52 million electric vehicles (EVs) have been registered in India in the last three years. At the current pace, the Indian EV market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 36 per cent, according to the India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA). By 2030, NITI Aayog aims to see EV sales penetration for all commercial vehicles reach 70 per cent, for private vehicles 30 per cent, for buses 40 per cent, and for two-and three-wheelers 80 per cent.

India's growing landscape for electric vehicles creates a wide range of economic prospects in the infrastructure, energy, and transportation sectors. These include opportunities in EV franchising, EV OEM market, battery infrastructure, solar vehicle charging, and battery swapping technology, among others. The corporates are playing a significant role in accelerating the transition to widespread adoption of electric vehicles by collaborating with EV manufacturers to design and make available comprehensive solutions to meet various use case requirements of corporate customers. Corporates are functioning as the largest advocate of this changeover to zero-emission transportation after the government's persistent push and the manufacturers' efforts.

Developments in the Electric Vehicle Market

The Indian EV market is developing rapidly, and the recent update is the participation of E-commerce giants like Flipkart, Amazon for their last mile/mid mile delivery requirements and large technology companies with need to move huge workforce from home to office and back like Accenture, TCS, IBM, Microsoft etc. working closely with 2w/3w and 4w EV manufacturers to design and procure EV’s for their requirements.

Flipkart plans to deploy 25,000 electric vehicles (EV) to its delivery fleet by 2030. The Walmart-owned company will also create charging infrastructure at its delivery hubs and offices across the country deploying two-and three-wheelers in several cities in partnership with Hero Electric, Mahindra Electric, and Piaggio to make customised electric vehicles.

Similarly, Amazon India will be inducting 10,000 electric vehicles by 2025. Amazon India has partnered with automobile manufacturer Mahindra Electric to strengthen its commitment to e-mobility. Mahindra will be deploying its Treo Zor EV, which can carry a payload of up to 550 Kg, in the e-commerce giant’s fleet marking a shift in the logistic paradigm of the company. Amazon is in talks with startups like Kinetic Green, Bengaluru-based Altigreen, Hyderabad’s e-trio, Gayam Motor Works to come up with electric vehicles which will minimise the company’s dependency on fossil fuels.

Evage, an EV manufacturer based in Chandigarh has been working closely with e commerce and delivery companies and has been testing a 1 Ton truck for deployment soon.

Reliance BP Mobility and Swiggy are also coming together to set up an electric vehicle ecosystem with battery-swapping facilities every few kilometers. The collaboration aims to achieve a greener and more affordable option for delivery fleets. The battery swapping process will guarantee less waiting time, more deliveries and income for the delivery partners. In addition, the business will also help delivery partners get familiar with eclectic vehicles, battery switching, and battery performance monitoring apps. To deploy electric cycles for last-mile delivery, Swiggy has also teamed up with Hero Lectro and Fast Despatch Logistics.

Increasing Competition in the Market

Besides vehicle manufacturers, companies like Greaves Cotton have entered into the multi-brand electric vehicle retail segment under AutoEVMart. The platform will offer a variety of electric vehicles like e-two-wheelers, e-three-wheelers, etc., along with EV accessories.

Mobility players including those who offer Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) to corporates are inducting large EV fleets to service all kinds of requirements of corporate clients across India. They are offering a range of rental EV’s collaborating with cities, automakers, battery producers, and driver partners to make sustainable technology affordable and practical for use in the transportation of people and goods for corporate customers.

Along with electric vehicle manufacturing, there are developments in the charging infrastructure of electric vehicles. The first intelligent IoT-based charging station platform in India, Kazam, seeks to provide intelligent and reasonably priced charging solutions to solve the country's lack of charging infrastructure. Kazam is establishing charging centres where fleet businesses park their vehicles and charge them. Additionally, the firm is constructing charging stations at distribution centres for e-commerce and FMCG businesses. Since there is sufficient time in all of these locations, slow charging is available, and employing slow charging will keep the battery effective for an extended period.

Conclusion

The electric vehicles market is witnessing interest from across the sectors. The concerns like range anxiety that come with electric vehicles can be addressed. One of the measures is the battery subscription or leasing facility and battery swapping because batteries are one of the most expensive components of an EV, comprising around 50 per cent of the total cost.

The EV ecosystem in India is driven by several factors, including new rules and regulations, parity in TCO, new EV ownership models, and technology breakthroughs. However, one of the largest barriers to widespread B2C adoption continues to be infrastructure development. As a result, the B2B sector is projected to drive EV growth over the next years due to use cases that have been established, fixed or pre-defined routes, and cost savings from increased usage. EVs have the potential to become crucial last-mile delivery and passenger movement vehicles in India soon.