Saumya Prasad, an ecologist, had been happily driving around Dehradun in an e2o, Mahindra’s first electric car that was launched in 2013, for years. Then one day, in late 2022, three of the cells in its battery pack gave away. The company no longer supported the spares Prasad needed to fix the vehicle. The 46-year-old made a decision few would. She hired a truck to move the vehicle all the way to Bengaluru where Zarryl Lobo, an e-car aficionado, had what she needed. The old-generation electric cars can be repaired by replacing individual cells that have degraded within the pack, unlike the new EVs whose battery packs are completely sealed.“From Lobo, I got the cells that matched my car,” says Prasad. The entire process, including hauling the car to Bengaluru and back, cost her more than INR 1 lakh. But she was soon back to driving in the hills and has clocked more than 14,000 km in her done-up vehicle. Prasad has taken a precaution as well. She has installed an active cell balancer, which reduces the chance of an individual cell degrading. With this, Prasad believes she can drive her e2o for another 10-15 years. Cars, she says, should be driven for as long as they are drivable. It is a belief many early adopters of e-mobility share.In Bengaluru, Anand Vedula, a 38-year-old engineer, has been an e-driver all along—he started with an e-bike and followed it up with an e2o in 2016. He did not give up on his electric car even when his residential society did not allow it to be charged on the premises. He charged the car at a relative’s place a few blocks away. Not only is an electric car low on maintenance, Vedula says his small car is best for slow-speed driving in Bengaluru traffic. “The running cost works out to be less than a rupee for a kilometre,” he says. However, the battery needs replacement and he is hopeful that Lobo, again, will help.Lobo is one of the few people who collect parts from scrapped electric cars and refurbish them. His Xtra Reinforced Plastics is the destination for many early e-drivers when their old vehicles run into trouble. Lobo started servicing Reva cars in 2016, and e2o in 2018. He has serviced close to 300 cars.
Prasad and Vedula belong to a close-knit community of early electric car owners who aren’t willing to trade their old vehicles or beliefs for a fancy, new four-wheeler.
Some stick to their old electric cars even when they buy new ones. Gurgaon-based Sanjay Gupta, 60, is a pilot who has a small fleet of EVs. He bought his first electric car, Reva, way back in 2002. In 2005, he upgraded to Reva i. In 2013, he bought the e2o, powered by lithium-ion battery. Last year, he bought the BYD Atto 3 and this year a Tata Punch.
MISSION ZERO EMISSION
The early EV owners are deeply interested in sustainability. It was their growing concern about climate change and the ecological impact of conventional vehicles that pushed them to be among the early adopters of electric mobility. “Electric vehicle is the future. It will drastically bring down our dependence on crude oil,” says Gupta.
Ranjan Ray—an architect who relocated from Delhi to Bhubaneswar a couple of years ago as his kid suffered from breathing issues due to the air pollution in the capital city— knows the importance of a clean environment. He is an early adopter of the e2o. About a decade ago, he wanted to buy a small environment-friendly car. Then the only option was the two-door e2o, which cost upwards of INR 8 lakh. Luckily, Mahindra came out with a scheme where one paid for the car upfront, with a monthly rental for the battery over the next five years. “So, I paid INR 5.5 lakh for my first e2o and INR 1.8 lakh over five years to Mahindra that took the entire responsibility of the battery,” he recalls. Later Ray would team up with PluginIndia, a community of EV users, to design RE:CHARGE, India’s first app to locate charging stations. Ray says health and well-being of the people around him are paramount and EVs make it possible.
The early adopters took the plunge, trusting the technology, and formed communities to serve as brand ambassadors. They have provided valuable feedback on how to make products better for real-world use, paving the way for the mainstreaming of EVs, says Vivek Srivatsa, chief commercial officer, Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, the largest player in the electric PV space.
If the early adopters fuelled the initial spike in EV sales, many price-sensitive consumers have been generally slow to make the transition and pay a premium over ICE vehicles. Atul Gopal, a Pune-based teacher, says some early adopters of EVs are often not worried about price and are willing to compromise on features for the sake of sustainability. Gopal bought a second-hand e2o for INR 7 lakh when a new car was priced at INR 8 lakh.
KV Suresh, a 70-year-old consultant engineer from Noida, bought his e2o in December 2013. It was billed from Bengaluru for INR 8.7 lakh. At that point, he could have got a Suzuki Dzire petrol for INR 5.5 lakh. Since then, he has clocked close to 1.6 lakh km, with the original battery pack. “I have had no major issue with the car. Regular service and a suspension overhaul have kept it going. My last visit to the service station was in late 2021,” says Suresh. Gopal, who is part of Plugin, says parts of scrapped cars are sold at cheap rates. This helps EV owners as many of their cars develop issues with battery and onboard chargers over the years. However, many of them know their way around their vehicles and can take care of minor issues. When the onboard charger of Prasad’s car developed a snag, she fixed it herself.
Industry watchers say electric vehicles are beginning to make economic sense. Now there is price parity between electric and ICE vehicles which will fuel the purchase of electric PVs and increase their penetration, which is now a mere 2%.
The Indian market is shifting from early adopters. People are choosing EVs as their primary vehicle, marking the maturity of the ecosystem, says Srivatsa.
Now it is not just the eco-conscious who are going for EVs. The vehicles are technologically superior than many conventional cars and provide better comfort and acceleration. It won’t be difficult to achieve a penetration of 5%, says Chetan Maini, the man behind India’s first electric car, Reva. “We are seeing a shift from early adopters. Even smaller cities are throwing up the numbers,” he says.
A recent McKinsey report sheds light on the factors propelling the growing interest in EVs among consumers. Environmental impact takes centre stage, followed by lower cost of total ownership and reduced engine noise, as key benefits of an EV. This attests to a shifting consumer landscape in the ownership of automobiles where sustainability ranks among the top criteria in purchase decisions.
Despite the increasing consumer demand for sustainable options, challenges such as range anxiety, limited charging infrastructure and high initial costs persist. The difficulties were greater when the original green drivers began their journey and yet nothing could faze them.
