L-MOK7H Posted October 25, 2021 Posted October 25, 2021 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-58977080 Two and three-wheelers are going electric faster than cars in India India sold more electric vehicles in September than any month previously. Sales have been rising since April - the start of this financial year - and are already nearing the previous year's total. It's a glimmer of hope for an industry that has been struggling with a global shortage in semiconductor chips, coming on the heels of a period of sluggish growth. But it's only a glimmer. Electric vehicle sales - 121,900 this financial year - account for only 1.66% of India's 20 million automobile sales, according to the Delhi-based think tank Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW). Some electric vehicle firms, especially makers of two-wheelers, are betting big, but the demand is lukewarm for cars and commercial vehicles like lorries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is trying to change that with a $3.5bn (£2.5bn) scheme to boost manufacturing. Electric vehicles will also cut emissions as pressure ratchets up for India, the world's third-largest carbon emitter, to set more ambitious climate goals ahead of the COP26 summit in November. The electric alternative is also growing in appeal as global oil prices surge, taking India's fuel import bill to a staggering $24.7bn. Why Kerry failed to get emission pledge from India Why electric cars will take over sooner than you think "It's part-climate change and part-economics," said Gaggan Sidhu, the director of CEEW. But is India ready for what is arguably the biggest shake-up in the auto industry since its birth more than a century ago? The dream "Consumers are saying, 'I want this', the government is pushing for it - the only thing remaining is for us to make electric vehicles," said Varun Dubey, the chief operating officer of Ola Electric, a subsidiary of the eponymous ride-hailing app. The firm recently announced a snazzy $320m scooter factory in India that plans to make 10 million electric two-wheelers every year - about 15% of the world's production. "Nobody is debating whether we should move towards clean air. The question is how do we get there?," Mr Dubey said.
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