Electric Vehicle Sales Down By 19.91 Per Cent In FY2020-21

Covid-19 had disrupted the growth across the auto sector last year and the second wave is again taking a toll on sales. That stays true even for the electric vehicle (EV) industry. According to the sales report published by Society Of Manufacturers Of Electric Vehicles (SMEV), the Indian EV industry has recorded a decline of 19.91 per cent in FY2020-21, selling 2,36,802 units as compared to 2,95,683 units sold in the same period a year ago. The numbers include electric two-wheelers (E2W), electric three-wheelers (E3W) and electric four-wheelers (E4W).

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Electric Three-Wheeler sales went down by 37.17 per cent.

Commenting on the sales report, Sohinder Gill, Director-General - SMEV said, "We were anticipating a good growth before the start of FY 21, but sales remained stagnant due to various reasons. The sales in electric three-wheeler and two-wheeler segment stood low as compared to last year. A good thing has happened that people started moving towards advanced batteries i.e. lithium. The city speed and high-speed category in the two-wheeler segment have witnessed growth. However, a lot more needs to be done to achieve the target under the FAME II scheme. Timely intervention by the government in a form of policy change is required to fuel the growth and achieve the target by the end of FY22."

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Sales of electric two-wheeler declined by 6 per cent.

In the E2W segment, the industry registered sales of 1,43,837 units, which include 40,836 high-speed and 1,03,000 low-speed E2W. The sales of E2Ws declined by 6 per cent in FY21, having registered sales of 1,52,000 units in the FY20. The E3W segment registered sales of 88,378 E3W as against 1,40, 683 units sold in FY20, recording a decline of 37.17 per cent. However, the data doesn't include E3Ws that are not registered with the transport authority. That said, the E4W segment has been on the growth trajectory thanks to newer offering in the market. The EV industry sold 4,588 units of E4W compared to 3,000 units in the same period last year, witnessing a healthy growth of 52.93 per cent.