Price parity with ICE-run cars important for EV boom: Kia's Hardeep Brar

About 99,165 electric cars were sold in India in 2024, recording 20 per cent year-on-year growth, according to FADA

The price difference between electric vehicles (EVs) and internal combustion engine (ICE) ones must narrow to 20-25 per cent from 30-50 per cent, said Hardeep Singh Brar, senior vice-president and head of sales and marketing at Kia India.

 

He added that this will help EVs reach an “inflection point”, potentially driving a seven-nine fold surge by the end of this decade.

 

About 99,165 electric cars were sold in India in 2024, a 20 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth, according to Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (Fada).

 

“We are launching two EVs within the next one year. First one would be in the second half of the year, and the second one in the first half of next year,” Brar told Business Standard during an interview at Bharat Mobility Global Expo.

 

“By 2030, we estimate that the auto industry would record annual sales of anywhere between 5.5 and 6 million units. We see the EV penetration to be 15 per cent, which is an annual sales of about 700,000-900,000 units,” he added.

 

“Currently, EVs are about 30-50 per cent more expensive than ICE vehicles. I believe the inflection point for EVs will come when this price gap narrows to 20-25 per cent. That’s when people will start coming in,” he said.

 

Various major carmakers like Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai have unveiled their mass market EVs at the Global Expo. He said that driving on highways, and not within cities, is inducing range anxiety among customers.

 

“We need charging infrastructure on the highways, because within a city, 80 per cent of customers don't go for public chargers. This is because they go to their workplace, come back in the night and put it on charge. These customers are sorted. Within a city, you don't drive more than 200 km in a single day (higher than a single charge range of most electric cars). On top of that, EVs give a higher range within the city,” he said.

 

If the car manufacturer is claiming a range of 300 km, it would be close to 260-270 km in the city, but around 180 km on the highway.

 

“So, the problem is that this range anxiety comes from highway driving. It doesn't come from city driving. So, we don't need to worry too much about the cities,” he stated.

 

Clustering several chargers at a single place — like a Dhaba or any other place where a lot of people gather on the highway — can take care of customer worries, he said.

 

The PM E-drive scheme, which came into effect from October, aims to establish a robust network of public charging stations. They include 22,100 fast chargers for electric four wheelers, 1,800 for electric buses, and 48,400 for electric three and two wheelers.

 

These charging points would be installed in key cities with high electric vehicle penetration along with select highways. Total outlay for charging infrastructure under the scheme is Rs 2,000 crore.

 

Brar said that whatever range anxiety is present within the city is being taken care of by multiple public chargers that companies like Kia are setting up at dealerships.

 

“In the first phase, we have put 16 fast chargers. The highest one is the 210 kwh charger. The remaining 15 are 150 kwh chargers. Next year, in all Tier I and II cities, we will be putting 60 to 90 kwh chargers, which are still faster than the 30 kwh and 12kwh ones. So, we will have close to 200 chargers at our various dealerships in about 125 cities by the middle of next year,” he stated.

 

These 200 dealerships in 125 cities are also being readied for servicing (aftermarket) EVs. The workshops will have a dedicated base, technicians, tools and equipment for EVs.

 

The company has a total 445 showrooms across the country.