The global EV race and India's inflection point
With India standing at a pivotal juncture in its electric mobility revolution, having a target of 30% electric vehicle (EV) adoption by 2030 for cars, the nation needs over three million charging stations, a staggering leap from today's ~ 26,000 public chargers.
This EV-to-chargers gap isn't merely infrastructural; it's a barrier to mass adoption. McKinsey's survey reveals that 29% of global EV owners consider reverting to ICE vehicles due to charging anxiety, with inadequate infrastructure as their top concern.
The question is, 'What should India do in order to close this gap?'
The answer is simple, look globally. Why? Because reinventing the wheel is costly and time consuming.
Inspiration emerges from a very unexpected quarter: The global playbook. Let me explain. The current charger-to-EV ratio is 1:6 in Norway and around 1:20 in China as opposed to India's 1:135. Norway's 95% EV penetration, China's 1.2 million public chargers, and the European Union's (EU) highway charging revolution offers India not models to mimic, but lessons to adapt. And for India, this can pave the way for a strategic acceleration to its EV goals.
Policy as a catalyst for EV adoption growth: Norway's tax incentive model: India is a large country with a large population. For something to take effect nationally, policies should be designed for long term impact. Let's take the example of Norway's brutal tax reengineering which included offering cut-throat tax incentives such as zero VAT or import duties on EVs. The Norwegian government also slashed registration taxes and road tolls for EVs while imposing carbon taxes on internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.
The result? 95% of new cars sold today are electric. Norway built 18,000 chargers, not through subsidies alone, but by creating a market where EVs became economically rational. With these models, their government also communicated its clarity of vision, i.e., a complete ICE ban by the end of 2025, signalling long-term market certainty (as opposed to things such as Hybrid vs EV conundrum in India).
The Netherlands went one step further, requiring EV-ready wiring in new buildings and charging points in structures with 20+ parking spaces.
The EU's regulatory compulsion: The EU mandated interoperability via Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) focusing on standardising and expanding EV charging infrastructure across Europe. Their Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) is also a widely adopted standard for communication between charging stations and charging station management systems. These regulations allow end consumers to use any charging infrastructure with one account.
Taking cues from the Norwegians, the Dutch and the EI, India can rejig its EV policies. We can consider reducing GST on public charging, expand PM E-drive scheme to private installations as well, like Netherlands or provide incentives for green plates, such as toll-free highways or reduced road taxes for EVs nationwide. Another idea is to create a unified EV infrastructure body to standardise policy and put an end to fragmentation across different states. We also need to ensure seamless connectivity and interoperability across all chargers by pushing for a standardized protocol. While OCPP is already widely recognised in the industry, ensuring its consistent implementation across all charging points will enable seamless connectivity, enhance user convenience, and accelerate broader EV adoption through true interoperability.
Infrastructure deployment through strategic expansion frameworks: With more than ~13,000 public chargers, Amsterdam made sure that there was no resident who was more than 500m away from an EV charger. The city has saturated supermarkets, transit hubs, apartments and other strategic locations across different neighbourhoods with EV charging stations. Similarly, in California, EVPassport is deploying over 400 charging stations at Viejas Casino & Resort in Alpine, focusing on high-density urban charging making it one of the largest deployments in North America.
With the EU mandating fast-charging stations with a minimum capacity of 400 kW for cars and vans, and 600 kW for heavy-duty vehicles, to be installed along major highways. Germany has already installed chargers every 50-60km along its autobahns.
China has installed over a million public chargers, of which most are in tier 2 and 3 cities across the country. Globally, more than two-thirds of the growth in public charging has been seen in China since 2020. The country was responsible in the deployment of fast charging amounting to 80% of the global deployments, increasing its total fast chargers to 1.6 million in 2024.
EV adoption in India greatly hinges on confidence in the EV charging ecosystem and when it comes to building trust – seeing is believing. India should focus on establishing a dense network of charging infrastructure in and around the urban hotspots. We should begin by targeting key locations—metro stations, public parks, shopping malls, government offices, and highways—through strategic municipal partnerships, ensuring accessibility and convenience for all users The idea is to create high density urban charging zones. The government can consider requiring 10-20% EV-ready parking spaces in new apartments and societies. It can also explore utilising NHAI land banks to install solar-powered charging oases equipped with Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS). BESS is critical to help reduce grid load as it helps store electricity during off-peak hours or from renewable sources (solar, wind) and supply it during peak demand. Through deliberate policy initiatives and detailed roadmap there is always an option to convert more than 20,000 PSU-run petrol pumps into dual-fuel hubs. Cochin Airport, for instance, has a 100% solar-powered charging hub. The CIAL now has a total installed solar capacity of 50 MW.
Technology and innovation: Facing Arctic winters and grid strain, Norway deployed AI-enabled load management to shift charging to off-peak hours since heating demands during peak hours put strain on the grids. This strategy slashed their grid upgrade costs by 90% and allowed them to avoid substantial infrastructure investments. The OCPP mandate compliance further ended compatibility concerns.
Netherland's wind-powered solution and user-centric design: Netherlands has made significant strides in leveraging renewable energy, including wind power, to power its public charging infrastructure. With over 66,000 chargers, there is no doubt that the country has utilised its limited landmass to create a dense, reliable charging infrastructure. At the same time, people in Netherlands use one interface across more than three lakh chargers for charging and making payments.
Interestingly, the Germans are testing induction charging along its A6 motorway in Bavaria, which will potentially allow electric vehicles to charge inductively while driving at certain stretches. India can target similar models along the newly built Delhi-Dehradun, Delhi-Mumbai, Bangalore-Chennai Expressways and other similar high-speed corridors.
India stands at an inflection point. Technology innovation can be India's route to leapfrogging to global leadership in India. We can learn a few crucial lessons from other countries to build a resilient EV charging network. First, while many chargers are designed for India's extreme weather—heat, rain, humidity, dust, and snow—this level of resilience must be standard across the country. Enforcing strict product certification and safety standards will ensure all chargers are consistently durable, reliable, and built to last, no matter where they're installed. Second, India could benefit from wider use of smart chargers that manage electricity based on real-time availability. By adjusting power use as needed, these chargers help avoid overloading the grid and ensure energy is used more efficiently. Third, India should adopt innovative solutions like solar power and battery storage (BESS) at charging stations to build a smarter energy model. This not only ensures reliable power and reduces strain on the grid, but also helps make EV charging sustainable from the ground up. Last but not the least, we need to build 'intelligent' chargers. Use of AI and predictive analytics, for example can substantially boost performance and reliability of the charging ecosystem. By focusing on these priorities, India can develop a robust, efficient, and future-ready EV charging ecosystem tailored to its unique environment.
India can become a potential leader by combining global insights with local innovation. For that, we need strategic yet actionable measures for India to leapfrog others in times to come. A lot of conventional ideas are already hidden in plain sight which we need to look around and try to find from the global playbook. And then there are some non-conventional ideas such as:
India is a country of yatras and road-trips. Be it the Char-Dham, Puri, Dwarka, Golden Temple, Shirdi, Kashi, Tirupati or many others, can be converted into EV Yatra with the access routes to these places having high density of EV chargers, effective for travellers as well as locals alike.
Indian highways are full of dhabas. We can partner with dhaba owners on a commission-sharing model, converting select spaces in their parking lot as EV charging. This approach not only improves access to charging along highways but also creates local employment opportunities through MSMEs and deployment of local charging stations. This has the potential to cover 100% national highways within 2-3 years, where people can charge their cars during a pitstop.
India's edge lies in convergence; 599 highways totalling 1,50,000+ km, 500 GW renewable capacity by 2030, UPI's eight billion+ monthly transactions, and demographic scale. Yogesh's struggle should give way to ease and efficiency in EV charging. By 2030, his hunt for chargers must transform into a 5-minute pit stop. The global playbook offers the tools; India's ingenuity must now rewrite the rules.
Norway built the world's most advanced network by making chargers ubiquitous. India can surpass them by making them smarter, greener, and accessible to all. The global playbook is written. Now, we rewrite it – for India, and for the world.
This article is authored by Anant Nahata, CEO, Exicom.
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