Wheels Of Change Summit 2021 - Had COVID Not Been Here The Industry Would Have Clocked Twice The Numbers Compared The Last Year.- Sohinder Gill DG SMEV

Electric vehicles are taking over the world, India though is in a peculiar situation. India is a country of Two Wheelers and three-wheelers, and it is this segment that has the full attention of the Electric Vehicle Manufacturers. According to a PwC report, in FY19, over 7.6 Lakh (0.76 Mn) electric vehicles were sold, which was primarily dominated by two-wheelers (16.4%) and three-wheelers (83%), respectively. The government is planning to take the Indian electric vehicle market to 28 Mn units by 2030.

While, the efficient, cheap-to-run, and maintain Electric two and three-wheelers are no-brainers, there are problems. Primarily lack interest from financial institutions and NBFCs in giving out loans to purchase these vehicles. Customer awareness and range anxiety also play into a buyer’s decision. 

On the occasion of The World Environment Day 2021, BWAutoworld in association with BW Businessworld organized – Wheels of Change 2021 Ev Summit. The First Panel of the Summit addressed the Opportunities and Challenges the Electric two-wheeler and three-wheeler segments are facing. Mr. Sohinder Gill, Director General SMEV and CEO Hero Electric, Mr. Jeetender Sharma, MD Okinawa Autotech, Dr. Deb Mukherjee MD Omega Seiki, and Mr. Nilay Chandra, Director Charging Infra, Ather Energy participated in the discussion.

While addressing the occasion, Mr. Sohinder Gill, DG SMEV, and CEO Hero Electric said “Post Lockdown, the Pent up demand and positive interest from the buyers caused almost doubling the numbers in the last three months. Had COVID not been here the industry would have clocked twice the numbers compared the last year. But unfortunately with 2-3months of blackout today, perhaps the industry might be able to touch 1.5 times the numbers of last year.”

The Pandemic saw high demand for last-mile deliveries and an optimistic Dr. Deb Mukherjee, MD Omega Seiki said “The Electric Three-Wheeler Industry has seen an upsurge during the pandemic, the e-commerce sector is growing during the pandemic and due to last-mile deliveries we have seen almost doubling of demand compared to Pre-Corona times. The technology-led growth is also there, we have built a refrigerated three-wheeler which is primarily used in the pharma industry for vaccine transport and it has also been a volume growth of us. We are very bullish and upbeat on this”

On the topic of reducing the initial cost of Electric Two-Wheelers Jeetender Sharma MD Okinawa Autotech said “In my opinion, localization is one of the biggest parameters which can make the electric vehicle cheaper to own and run. Localization will also help in service and after-sales increasing the faith in the customer's mind. Lithium-ion battery costs are decreasing as well, I think it is not going to be a long journey.”

On the topic of Financing Nilay Chandra, Director Charging Infrastructure for Ather Energy said “If we keep waiting for natural demand, we will continue to have the Chicken and Egg situation, this is where I think the government can step in and give some incentives to the consumer. The Smaller banks still do not have the data and the awareness to facilitate lending towards electric vehicles. A strong government policy would really help the industry.”