Lack of EV charging infra leading to range anxiety among customers: Maruti

Maruti Suzuki's Partho Banerjee states that the lack of sufficient charging infrastructure keeps electric vehicles from becoming primary cars. He also discusses the growth of SUVs and challenges with

Electric vehicles (EVs) are not yet the primary car for a household and remain the second or third option due to insufficient public charging infrastructure. This fuels anxiety about vehicle range, said Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer (marketing & sales), Maruti Suzuki India, on Friday night.

 

He added that the increase in share of sports utility vehicles (SUVs) in the automobile industry's total passenger vehicle sales will plateau at some point. This is because people's preferences change with time, he told reporters after launching the ‘Phantom Blaq’ (black) edition of the Grand Vitara SUV.

 

According to data released by Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (Fada), sales of electric cars increased by just 17.64 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to 107,645 units in 2024-25.

 

“We are also entering the electric car market this year with the launch of e-Vitara. We need to address the fundamental concerns of customers. Lack of charging infrastructure is leading to anxiety about the range of electric cars. Until the time this concern is addressed, EVs won't be the primary car for the customer,” he said.

 

“Public charging infrastructure is needed to give assurance to people that there is a functional charging point every 50-100 km. The customer may not use it but he or she is assured that there is a charging point available. We ourselves are setting up charging stations in 100 cities,” he added. 

 

While the share of small cars (sedans and hatchbacks) in the auto industry's total passenger vehicle sales have been decreasing for several years, the share of SUVs has been increasing.

 

“SUV’s contribution has now gone to 55 per cent in the industry's total sales. In July, its growth took a little hiatus. Why do you think the SUV's share has seen a significant increase in the last few years? In the last one year, almost all the models that have been launched are SUVs...The more launches you do in this segment, their share will obviously go up. At some point, it has to peter out. Whether that point will be 60 or 61 per cent — your guess is as good as mine,” Banerjee said.

 

“After a point, it will get stabilised. Fashion changes with time. Bell bottoms (trousers) were popular once, then came the parallels... Meanwhile, you have to keep in mind that our Dzire (which is a sedan) was the best-selling car last month. These sales numbers came without any discounts,” he added.

 

When asked about reasons behind the falling sales of small cars, he said, “Due to different regulations, the cost has gone up. Affordability is a problem. We are trying our level best to offer our products with excellent financial packages. Very soon, we are going to introduce a financial package that will allow a customer to own an Alto by paying just ₹2,999 as an upfront amount.”

 

“However, the fundamental issue is the lack of money in the customer's pockets. It will take time to get resolved, maybe one-three years,” he added.

 

After launching the Phantom Blaq edition of the Grand Vitara, Banerjee said it comes with the “NEXA Safety Shield”, which includes six airbags,

 

Other features include electronic stability program (ESP), anti-lock braking system (ABS) with electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD), hill-hold control, and reverse parking sensors, among others.