Two states breach NITI Aayog's e3W target seven years ahead of plan

4 others remain close on the heels of target

Chhattisgarh and Assam have already breached the NITI Aayog’s target of 80 per cent electric penetration in the three-wheelers category by 2030 and four others -- Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Bihar, and Uttarakhand are within striking distance of it, shows data from the Vahan Dashboard for this calendar year up to June 20.

A total of 227,453 electric three-wheelers (e3Ws) have been sold so far this year, an 77 per cent increase from 128,094 in the same period of last year.

Electric’s charge has come at the expense of diesel and petrol as three-wheeler fuels. Diesel three-wheeler sales fell by 85 per cent and sales of those running on dual engines, one powered by CNG and the other by petrol, fell 96 per cent. On the other hand, those running on CNG alone saw an increase of 5,462 per cent in sales.
 

Of the 435,654 three-wheelers sold this year, 227,453 were e-rickshaws and e-autos, translating into an electric penetration of 52.21 per cent, up from 51.88 per cent in 2022. Nine states are above the national average: Chhattisgarh (88.25 per cent), Assam (82.48 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (79.50 per cent), Punjab (74.53 per cent), Bihar (70.27 per cent), Uttarakhand (69.95 per cent), Rajasthan (58.48 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (55.16 per cent), and Jharkhand (52.61 per cent).

Of the five states with the highest electric penetration in three-wheelers, three are also among the top five in terms of the total three-wheelers sold. With sales of 116,357 three-wheelers, Uttar Pradesh is the largest market with a share of 26 per cent of all three-wheelers sold in the country. It is also the state with the largest electric three-wheelers sales with 40 per cent of all e3W sales.

Bihar, with 37,773, is the second largest in e3Ws, followed by Maharashtra (32,625), Gujarat (31,738), and Assam (29,993). The top five account for 57 per cent of the country’s e3W sales. Maharashtra and Gujarat are among the top five three-wheeler markets, but their electric penetration is relative low at 15.48 per cent and 4.07 per cent, respectively.

Industry experts say that the rise in e3W sales is fuelled by the government's push for electric mobility and the rising cost of diesel and petrol. However, there is a flip side to the rise of e3Ws: the majority of them, around 70 per cent according to industry estimates, run on lead-acid batteries, not lithium-ion.

“Lead battery-operated e3Ws dominate the market right now because the ecosystem for such batteries is fully developed in the country. Until the ecosystem for lithium batteries also develops, the shift is difficult,” said Nitin Kapoor, Managing Director of Saera Electric Auto, an e3W manufacturer.

The government incentivizes e3Ws powered by lithium batteries with a subsidy worth Rs 32,200 to Rs 1,11,505, depending on the size of the battery, under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles (FAME-II) scheme. The scheme aimed to support half a million e3Ws, however, only 74,000 vehicles were supported till April 2023. As 84 per cent of the Rs 2,500 crore remained unutilized the government diverted the funds to other categories. The revised outlay for the scheme stands at Rs 700 crore. 

The price of an e3W starts at Rs 1,00,000 and goes up to Rs 4 lakh. Batteries constitute nearly 40 per cent of the cost, making those running on lead-acid batteries 20 to 40 per cent cheaper than e3Ws powered by lithium batteries, although the performances of the two are similar.