Charing Infrastructure a major hurdle in EV adoption: MD Tata Motors

Insufficient infrastructure for charging electric vehicles (EVs) remains a major obstacle to the country's wider adoption of EVs, and Tata Motors is promoting a more concentrated regulatory strategy to enhance infrastructure development with active corporate engagement.

Shailesh Chandra, the managing director of Tata Passenger Electric Mobility and Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, told reporters on Wednesday that the major barrier to the widespread adoption of electric vehicles is the infrastructure for charging them. Moreover, he further said that he was anticipating more policy support for the 2019 Union Budget.

Through the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME) programme, the Central government only offers incentives to oil marketing companies (OMCs) for the installation of public EV charging stations. In India, there are more than 12,000 public EV charging stations. However, with just one EV charger capable of supporting over 135 EVs, India's EV sector is not as developed as many other established EV markets.

By emphasizing the need to increase private player participation, Chandra called to remove “ bottlenecks that are there to install chargers, at a community level”.  

In the Indian automobile market, Tata Motors is the biggest manufacturer of electric vehicles. The manufacturer thinks that in order to maintain the growing pace, more attention has to be paid to expanding the electric vehicle market as the number of early adopters of these vehicles may be declining. To establish community and highway charging infrastructure, the business is also collaborating with charge point operators and OMCs.

It anticipates that the government will continue to provide tax breaks and other forms of assistance to the electric car industry until it achieves self-sufficiency.

When asked what he expected from the 2019 Union Budget, Shailesh Chandra, MD of Tata Passenger Electric Mobility and Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, stated, "We anticipate that a policy like FAME will be in place until the industry achieves self-sufficiency and the support for low GST rates should continue till the industry reaches 15-20 per cent penetration levels.”

Currently, the two- and three-wheeler categories account for the majority of the electric vehicle penetration in the Indian automotive industry, which is between 5 and 7%. The development and uptake of electric cars have been greatly aided by government subsidies provided through the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME) and production-linked incentive (PLI) programmes, as well as a reduction in the registration tax.