Davos 2023: When will India mass adopt EVs? Mahindra & Mahindra's Anish Shah may have the answer

Mahindra Group's MD & CEO Anish Shah spoke to Rahul Kanwal, News Director, India Today & Aajtak at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The duo spoke about India's future in the auto EV segment at the onset of India moving past Japan to be the third-largest auto market in the world.

"We are well positioned to beat competition across the country as well as major players," Dr. Shah said. He also added that the past 18 months have been challenging but the three mega launches - Thar, Scorpio and XUV 700, by the company have seen more than expected success

He added that the company has witnessed increased consumer demand in the electric vehicle segment. "We have some launches lined up. We also expected a rise in the adoption."

Countering Dr. Shah's point on the adoption of EVs, Rahul Kanwal asked him about how will this happen as for a country to adopt EVs, it's not just the vehicles that need to be launched but the entire ecosystem that needs to be cultivated. So, how will India see mass adoption?

Answering this query, Dr. Shah explained that he has three phases of adoption towards the EV. He said, "First phase has the early adopters, those who believe that the climate change is real and will take the EV way." The second phase has the auto enthusiasts, Dr. Shah explains, "where people will rationally look at it as ask if they are actually getting a better car as an EV when they come and say that they actually like the vehicle." And, the third phase will be on a mass level, he added, where infrastructure plays an important role.

"Infrastructure will not be better unless we get charging time down to 10 minutes. Because I don't see us being able to wait for 30-45 minutes to charge a car. So, for mass adoption we need infrastructure all over the country," he said.

Meanwhile, speaking about the EV launches, Dr. Shah said, "Competition is good. We upped our game as the foreign players entered and exited the country. We welcome competition and we are in a great space with our products and services which will only improve as we go."

Also Read: Davos 2023: Mahindra & Mahindra beating global majors in their own game, says CEO Anish Shah