Global electric car sales totalled 4.2 million units in 2021, up 108% from 2020, and 198% from 2019
Mercedes, the pioneer of luxury electric vehicles (EVs) in India, launched the EQC in 2020. The company is now all set to launch the EQS luxury EV which has a range of 720 km on a single charge. “We will also be the first luxury car maker in India to locally manufacture this luxury EV when we roll out the EQS from Pune,” said Santosh Iyer, Vice-President, Sales and Marketing, Mercedes-Benz India to ET. This would mean a double-digit contribution in sales volumes from EVs by 2025.
Global electric car sales totalled 4.2 million units in 2021, up 108% from 2020, and 198% from 2019. “The demand continues to soar thanks to the boost from the Chinese market, Tesla and Volkswagen Group. The success of Tesla and the pressure to protect the environment has persuaded many legacy carmakers to announce fleet electrification plans,” said Ravi Bhatia, President of Jato Dynamics, a global supplier of automotive business intelligence.
Other luxury carmakers, like BMW, Jaguar Land Rover and Volvo are not far behind. In the next few months, all of them will launch EVs. These cars, costing from INR 60 lakh to INR 2 crore, will have top-of-the-line technology and have a range of 250-500 km on a single charge.
These high-end carmakers are also toying with the idea of local manufacture to keep prices competitive and to churn out higher volumes. “The customer base for premium vehicles has evolved tremendously in the last decade. People are conscious of the environment and want to make an active contribution in reducing carbon footprint,” Vikram Pawah, President and Chief
“The success of Tesla and the pressure to protect the environment has persuaded many legacy carmakers to announce fleet electrification plans,” said Ravi Bhatia, President of Jato Dynamics, a global supplier of automotive business intelligence.”
— Ravi Bhatia, President of Jato Dynamics
Executive, BMW Group India was quoted by ETAuto.com. The company launched a plug-in hybrid sports car, BMW i8, in 2015.
Pawah went on mention that the company had launched three pure electric products in less than 180 days: the BMW iX is an electric sports activity vehicle, the Mini SE is an electric hatchback and the BMW i4 is an electric sedan. “With this, BMW has an extensive electric product range in the country,” Pawah said. Electric cars constitute 10% of BMW’s overall sales.
BMW iX, Mini SE and i4 are available in the country as completely built-up units. BMW follows a ‘production follows the market’ approach, and local production is driven by volumes, Pawah said.
One of the major challenges that owners of EVs face is range anxiety: simply put, the fear that the vehicle has insufficient charge to reach the destination. However, the higher-end EVs do not give rise to such worries. In addition, fast chargers are being installed at all dealerships where owners of all brands are encouraged to quickly charge their EVs.
BMW provides a complimentary wall-box charger along with installation, while Mercedes gives two free wall-box chargers at the time of sale, which can be fixed at the owner’s home and office. The 205 kw DC charges the vehicle 10-80% in 31 minutes, while the 50 kw DC charges 10-80 % in 83 minutes. These are available at the dealerships.
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