Explore the rapidly growing EV charging market in India

Since the beginning of 2020, the electric and connected car market has drawn more than $100 billion in investment globally. Over the past two years, India has also witnessed a rapid increase in the market penetration of Electric Vehicles (EVs) and EV charging points.

In the past four months alone, electric charging stations in India have increased by more than two-and-half times. The Council on Energy, Environment, and Water (CEEW) claims that the Indian EV industry will be worth $206 billion by 2030 if India meets its Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) EV30@30 pledge. The CEM is a global forum that is currently trying to get all governments to help facilitate at least 30% of all automotive sales to be EV by 2030. This pledge isn’t legally binding, but provides a useful target for governments to align with. That said, it appears to be more than achievable in India based on current infrastructural growth rates, as seen in the figure below, led by 2 Wheeler and 3 Wheeler EV sales.

EV sales in India are looking good even throughout the pandemic.

The Indian government is currently focusing on developing a long-term strategic plan for electric vehicle adoption in India. In general, it’s planning to set up a vast array of charging points throughout India by investing in infrastructure improvements. If you didn’t know already, BOLT is already the largest EV infrastructure solution provider in India. This means we’re very excited by India’s EV adoption plans. To this end, we at BOLT decided to conduct our own market analysis and report findings here. We hope that this information will help illuminate what key requirements the Indian Government, startups, and the EV community need to consider, to set up a nationwide EV charging infrastructure.

What To Expect in This Article

In this article, we present what the current EV charging infrastructure looks like in India.

In addition, we also present you with the growth potential of India’s EV transition up until 2030. Our analysis here will clarify the opportunities the EV transition presents to the Indian industrial sector and society, and we can also give strategic recommendations to the Indian government and community leaders.

This article is the first in a three-part series where we analyze the market and specifically focus on EV charging infrastructure in India. Let’s initially take a look at BOLT and why we’re a leading authority in the EV infrastructure marketplace.

Why BOLT?

BOLT is a venture-backed Electric Vehicle (EV) Ecosystem hardware and software business. We also operate the world’s largest peer-to-peer EV charging network and marketplace. Powered by the BOLT Operating System (OS) and the BOLT Charging Network, we’re focused on creating a safe, smart, and connected ecosystem for EV users worldwide. In doing so, we aim to make range anxiety a thing of the past.

BOLT’s clients and partners include EV OEMs like Hero Electric, TVS, Bosch, Okinawa, BattRE, Zypp, and Sun Mobility. We also work with infrastructure management players, like MyGate, Park+, and more. BOLT has already installed 10,000+ EV charging points worldwide, and we’re on track to deploy 100,000+ more in the next 6 months. We’re also hoping to install 250,000 charging points across India within the next year.

An Overview of India’s EV Ecosystem

In 2021, India’s EV growth was 168% up on its previous year with 122607 EV units. Leading analysts expect this growth to continue throughout 2022 and also continue at an accelerated pace. In this section, we’ll take a look at infrastructure and future growth predictions.

An Overview of India’s EV Ecosystem

In 2021, India’s EV growth was 168% up on its previous year with 122607 EV units. Leading analysts expect this growth to continue throughout 2022 and also continue at an accelerated pace. In this section, we’ll take a look at infrastructure and future growth predictions.

EV and EV Charging Infrastructure in India Future Adoption Predictions

Take a look at these 3 predictions for the growth of the EV market in India:

Estimated EV sales in India between 2021-2030.

Our Assessment

The above projections all have an underlying theme: India is seeing a strong push toward transitioning to EV-based mobility. That, in effect, will bring a host of radical changes in the way India’s citizens move around.

Many factors are driving this growth in EV sales, indicating the Indian EV market is nearing an inflection point. EVs are expected to penetrate the different vehicle categories with varying adoption rates. Overall, the 2W EV and 3W EV markets will see rapid electrification in the near future. Rapid growth in 4W EV markets will likely begin between 2026 and 2027.

Key Findings

Given the new EV influx in the Indian automobile market, we’ll need an adequate EV charging infrastructure network. It isn’t hard to see how these two events are closely linked. Currently, the infrastructure may be the biggest barrier to EV transition in India.

India’s EV Charging Infrastructure Market

The EV charging infrastructure network in India is evolving. Several private, startups, and government entities are currently engaged in developing deployment strategies. Take a look at these examples.

The key market players are a good mix of government-backed entities and private companies. They’re also looking to grow their installed base capacities to make several Indian cities ‘EV-Ready’ in terms of charging infrastructure deployments next year.

Total number of current public charging points in India by vendor.

Our Assessment

Private home EV charging is also expected to dominate the market by 2030 in both numbers and capacity, given the sheer volume of 2-wheeled and 3-wheeled vehicles in India. The Private EV charging at-work segment will also need chargers. Until 2030, slow chargers will dominate the public charging infrastructure, but public fast chargers will also see a significant uptick.

We’re already moving towards a trend of total disruption in India, which will see Charge Point Operators (CPOs) adapt to the evolving market changes. CPOs’ hesitancy to invest in new ideas and technologies or engage in major collaborations or acquisitions will also fail to capture key market positions.

Key Findings

The EV sector in India will expect access to efficient charging infrastructure. CPOs need to prepare for a disruptive change in mobility. The Indian EV market is still in the development stage, but the market is heading toward making charging a commodity, just like oil or gas. In other words, the phrase: ‘electricity is the new fuel’ is gaining more merit.

Additional Opportunities in Charging

The Value Chain of the Indian EV Ecosystem

In terms of a public EV charging infrastructure, the value chain has had a few specific roles. Let’s take a look at 6 of these:

EV ecosystems provide an integrated approach to EV charging.

The Path Forward: Future EV Charging Trends in 2022

The future evolution of the previously-mentioned points will mean that value chain integration will force some segment absorption. Ultimately, only a few players across the chain will survive in the market. Who will it be? The ones that undergo continuous upgrades in their business models. On the end-user side, charging point real-estate providers will have to cope with increased peak loads. For example, we can think of providers like shopping centers, food courts, parking spaces, and apartment complexes. In this section, we define key EV charging trends that will influence the way India adopts EV technology.

CPO and MSP Roles

In BOLT’s opinion, the CPOs and MSPs form the more crucial part of this value chain. We also think they’re perfectly placed to expand across the entire value chain. What’s more, these entities are currently the most active players in the market, with a huge first-mover advantage. When CPOs reach a certain critical size and scale, MSPs will have a high incentive to collaborate with them.

Conversely, CPOs will feel as if they’re battling to expand their charging networks. Smaller players will most likely become aggregated, even at this growing stage. That way, CPOs secure the more strategically attractive charging locations for their slow/fast-charging services.

A small number of MSPs in India currently take up a significant chunk of the market share. Still, this trend will likely change rapidly as more players emerge over the next two years.

EV Market: Future Trajectory and Advantages

We expect the market to follow global trends and move towards ‘plug and charge’ standards. We also see these in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, where the standard automatically identifies what type of EV you’re plugging in and bills you accordingly. In market dynamics, that gives CPOs and MSPs closely tied to EV OEMs an added advantage. That’s because they’ll be able to choose to create a closed ecosystem of EV charging customers.

Final Thoughts

As the world adopts EVs more and more, it’s important to develop a proper EV charging infrastructure. That’s also the case in India, where EV adoption is increasing. To us, it’s important to analyze the current infrastructure state. Otherwise, we can’t know where it’s headed in the future. Here at BOLT, we encourage the Indian government to take action. We also encourage it to benefit from the many potential advantages of improving the infrastructure. Indian citizens and the environment alike will benefit from a robust EV charging infrastructure

FAQ

Resources

NITI Aayog: Article on EV Charging Infrastructure

Discover the NITI Aayog strategy overview on charging infrastructure in India.

Indian Government: EV Infrastructure Study

Read this technical study by the Indian Government on EV charging infrastructure.

JMK Research & Analytics: Article on Evolving EV Charging Infrastructure

Read this market research on EV charging infrastructure in India.

NITI Aayog: Handbook of EV Charging Infrastructure Implementation

Get the Handbook Of EV Charging Infrastructure by NITI Aayog.

Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation: Vehicle-Grid Integration

Find out about vehicle grid integration in this useful executive summary

RMI: Guide for DISCOM Readiness

Read up about DISCOM readiness in A Guide for DISCOM Readiness by Niti Aayog

India Smart Grid Forum: EV Stations Business Models

Explore electric vehicle charging station business models for India.

India Smart Grid Forum: Policies and Tariffs on EV Charging

Learn about the electric vehicle policies and electricity tariffs for EV charging in India.