Sunday, 13 Oct, 2024
In the first decade of this century, the ordinary Indian was gripped by an obsession called flying. The launch of low cost airlines triggered a consumer revolution of sorts in the aviation sector with people who travelled in trains earlier to start flying.
In the first decade of this century, the ordinary Indian was gripped by an obsession called flying. The launch of low cost airlines triggered a consumer revolution of sorts in the aviation sector with people who travelled in trains earlier to start flying. Despite hiccups here and there, as an India Tracker story published on August 17 shows, the aviation sector has changed forever. The second decade saw the smart phone revolution as the Indian consumer embraced social media like a long lost lover. With the lowest data costs in the world, accessing the internet via the smart phone became easy and what was once a rich man’s toy became the professional tool for a carpenter and a barber who also used it for personal entertainment. In a similar vein, the Indian consumer looks all set to embrace the EV or electric vehicle revolution this decade as companies announce major plans and offerings that promise to break through price barriers in the next few years. Just recently, Ola and Mahindra & Mahindra announced very ambitious plans to roll out electric cars by 2024 and beyond. In fact, Ola, which is already a serious player in the electric throw wheeler market has categorically stated that it wants to manufacture 1 million electric cars a year for domestic sales and exports by 2026.
Such audacious ambitions were behind the aviation and telecom revolutions too as aspirational Indians opted for flying and smart phones in droves once the price barriers were broken and they could afford what was once considered to be a “luxury” beyond reach. C Voter-India Tracker conducted a nationwide snap poll on the issue to find out what ordinary Indians thought about electric vehicles. The question asked was simple: do you think electric two wheelers and cars will succeed in India? Overall, 77.7% or more than three out of every four Indians was of the opinion that they will succeed. For once, one did not see the polarisation witnessed in responses when political or social questions are asked. The support for and confidence about a bright future for electric vehicles came from all categories of Indians. The only ethnic category that displayed less support (58.3%) were scheduled tribes. Also, the youngest Indians in the 18 to 24 age group (84.3%) appeared far more enthusiastic than those in the 25 to 34 years (71%) category.
Though the technology for electric vehicles has been around for a long time, the new industry faced two problems till recently. One was extremely high costs that made electric vehicles a luxury purchase for the rich. The second was the problem of re charging the batteries of the electric vehicles. Over the last three years, both problems have been solved to a large extent. Of course, le everywhere else, teething problems still remain, like electric scooters catching fire. Despite all, this sales of electric vehicles have grown from 1.19 lakh units in 2020 to 4.19 lakh units in 2022. Clearly, a “smart take off” stage has arrived for electric vehicles.
