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Net Zero by Narsi is a series of brief posts by Narasimhan Santhanam (Narsi), on decarbonization and climate solutions.
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by Narasimhan Santhanam



This posevnext-logo-v-smallt is a part of EV Next’s EV Perspectives.

EV Nexta division of EAI, is a leading market intelligence & strategic consulting firm for the Indian e-mobility sector.


 

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This post is part of a series titled ” EVolution or rEVolution? Strategizing for EV Growth in India” from EV Next Perspectives. See all posts for this series from here. See the previous post Understanding The PUSH & PULL for the Indian EV Industry

The Needs & Drivers of the Indian EV Market

What are the key needs and drives that can propel the Indian electric vehicle market? This post does a review and analysis.

Market Needs & Pain Points

Product Segment Market Segment
Dominant Needs/Pain Points (in descending order in case of more than one need)
Bicycles
Mass Market Price of vehicle
Premium Market
Cool factor
Performance
Health & wellness
Scooters Predominantly mass market Price of vehicle
Running cost
Performance
Motorbikes
Mass Market
Price of vehicle
Running cost
Performance
Premium Market
“Cool” factor
Performance
3 Wheelers
Passenger Market (Autorickshaws)
Price of vehicle
Running cost
Performance
Commercial Market (Tempos etc.)
Price of vehicle
Performance
Running cost
Cars (including vans and other car variants)
Small Car Price of vehicle
Running cost
Performance
Large Car
Performance
Price of Vehicle
Running cost
Premium Car Cool factor
Performance
Commercial Vehicles
Small trucks
Price of vehicle
Running cost
Performance
Lorries Price of vehicle
Performance
Running cost
Large trucks Price of vehicle
Performance
Running cost
Buses
Public transport – Local Price of vehicle
Running cost
Performance
Public transport – Long Distance Price of vehicle
Performance
Running cost
Private transport (usually long distance, outside of corporate fleet) Price of vehicle
Performance
Running cost
Corporate fleet Price of vehicle
Running cost
Performance
Off-road vehicles
All terrain commercial vehicles Performance
Agricultural vehicles Price of vehicle
Performance
Defense vehicles Performance
Specialty vehicles
Emergency (ambulance, fire engine…) Custom Features
Performance
Non-emergency (snow ploughs, recovery vans) Custom Features
Performance

Notes

  • Performance includes quality of driving, range per full fueling, maintenance requirements and refueling time
  • Running cost is a function of both mileage and costs for repair and maintenance

A summary of the above needs and pain points

 

Need or Pain Point Relevant Market Segments
Price of vehicle The most dominant need for most non-premium market segments
Running cost The second most dominant need for most consumer mass market segments
Performance An important need for premium, specialty and long distance vehicle segments
Custom features Important only for select vehicle types
Cool factor ( “go green”) Important only for premium segments

The above summary table is the starting point to devise a strategy that leverages the PULL.

Let’s start off by evaluating the extent to which these needs or pain points can be satisfied by EVs currently.

Need or Pain Point Relevant Market Segments
Price of vehicle No
Running cost Yes
Performance
  • Satisfies on two aspects – Ease of maintenance & Quality of Driving/Riding
  • Doesn’t satisfy on the other two – Range per Charge & Fueling/Charging time
Custom features No
Cool factor Yes

EVs – Where do they do well?

  • EVs fully satisfy two of the four key needs or pain points quite well – Running cost and the Cool Factor
  • EVs partially satisfy the “Performance” needs

EVs – Where do they do poorly?

  • It is on Price that EVs face their biggest challenge. As is well known, EVs cost between 30% – 100% higher than their conventional equivalents. The main reason for the high cost is the battery. Which is why, while vehicles using Lead Acid batteries cost perhaps 25-30% higher, vehicles using Li-ion batteries could cost 50% or higher. In fact, electric buses (almost all of which run on Li-ion batteries), cost over 100% more than their fossil fuel equivalents, only due to the extensive requirement of such expensive batteries.

Price and performance aspects where EVs face challenges are unlikely to disappear anytime soon. An effective short and medium term strategy should hence build on the current strengths that EVs have, and mitigate the negative effects of weakness and threats.

This post is part of a series titled “EVolution or rEVolution? Strategizing for EV Growth in India” from EV Next Perspectives. See all posts for this series from here. See next post Constraints, Challenges, and Avenues for EV Adoption in India

The complete list of bogs in the series-

  1. Highlights of the Indian EV Industry, an EAI Perspective
  2. Understanding The PUSH & PULL for the Indian EV Industry
  3. The Needs & Drivers of the Indian EV Market
  4. Constraints, Challenges and Avenues for EV Adoption in India
  5. Strategizing for India’s EV Growth
  6. EV Next’s Strategy Recommendation for India’s EV Growth – Summary & Analysis
  7. India’s EV Growth – EVolution or rEVolution? – the conclusion

 

Read more of our perspectives and opinions on: Indian EV Market Intelligence | Indian EV Strategy | Indian EV Policies | R&D and Innovation | Supply Chain | Indian EV Manufacturers | Adoption Trends | Electric Vehicle Impact | Indian EV Industry Highlights | Know how of Indian Emobility | Needs & Drivers | Constraints for EV adoption | Growth Strategies | Recommendations |


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Know more on how EV Next can assist your business in your strategy for the e-mobility and electric vehicles sectors, Here

Wish to know everything about India’s EV market from one place? Check out the India EV Expert Guide, an 800 page comprehensive guide to the Indian EV marketHere


 

Get to know about 1000+ EV innovations from EVI2: Electric Vehicle Innovation Intelligence from EVNext 

 

 

 


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About Narasimhan Santhanam (Narsi)

Narsi, a Director at EAI, Co-founded one of India's first climate tech consulting firm in 2008.

Since then, he has assisted over 250 Indian and International firms, across many climate tech domain Solar, Bio-energy, Green hydrogen, E-Mobility, Green Chemicals.

Narsi works closely with senior and top management corporates and helps then devise strategy and go-to-market plans to benefit from the fast growing Indian Climate tech market.

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