Electric vehicle sales: Only 5 states excel, Gujarat tops

New Delhi Nov 23 (IANS) Gujarat West Bengal Uttar Pradesh Rajasthan and Maharashtra have emerged as the top 5 states in electric vehicle (EV) sales the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) said on Thursday.

An SMEV survey of EVs sold during the last fiscal showed that 1 926 of these were sold in Maharashtra 2 388 in Rajasthan 2 467 in Uttar Pradesh 2 846 in West Bengal and 4 330 in Gujarat which made it the to the top in bringing the maximum number of e-vehicles on road.

"In addition 25 000 e-vehicles were sold across India between 2016-17 " an SMEV release said here.

"The study was conducted on all electric 2 wheelers and 4 wheelers which were sold during 2016-2017 and are successfully running in the mentioned states " it said.

Of all the EVs sold 92 percent were two-wheelers and only 8 percent were four-wheelers the study showed.

"However Delhi which initially used to top this list now surprisingly ranks 7th with only 1072 e-vehicles sold " the statement added.

"As far as other states are concerned there is a dire need for them to go electric on an urgent basis " SMEV Director (Corporate Affairs) Sohinder Gill said in a statement.

Challenges such as delay in subsidies and weak infrastructure need to be addressed he added.

--IANS
bc/vm