India's electric vehicle transition is accelerating as consumer consideration reaches new highs alongside a massive surge in public charging infrastructure. The HERE-SBD EV Index reveals that 87 percent of surveyed Indian consumers are now more likely to consider purchasing an electric vehicle than they were a year prior, marking a profound shift in consumer sentiment. This rising market appetite coincides with the addition of over 31,500 public charging points across the country over the past year, representing a fourfold annual increase in deployment velocity.
The rapid expansion of charging hardware has added 1.65 gigawatts of total power capacity, while the average charger power rating climbed from 32 kilowatts to 45 kilowatts. Industry analysts note that this shift reflects growing capital investment in higher-powered and faster charging solutions. Consumer awareness and openness are increasingly underpinned by practical economic drivers, with 46 percent of respondents pointing to rising fuel costs as a primary motivator, while 36 percent highlighted improvements in vehicle driving range and faster charging speeds.
Charging Reliability Remains a Structural Bottleneck
Despite tangible gains in charger density and total power output, infrastructure reliability continues to present a significant hurdle for widespread adoption. According to the index data, 46 percent of consumers still view limited charging infrastructure as a major barrier, while 36 percent cite persistent driving-range anxiety. The operational reality for current vehicle owners underscores these concerns, as 83 percent reported avoiding specific trips due to fears over charging accessibility, and 77 percent encountered faulty charging stations that failed to deliver power during a session.
Abhijit Sengupta, General Manager for India and Southeast Asia at HERE Technologies, emphasized the evolving nature of industry priorities in light of these findings. The focus must increasingly shift from simply expanding infrastructure footprints to ensuring drivers can confidently discover, access, and use charging infrastructure whenever they need it, according to Sengupta. Addressing these reliability gaps is widely regarded as a critical prerequisite for moving beyond early adopters into the early majority consumer segment.
State-Level Readiness Rankings Show Volatility Across Regions
India's geographic landscape of electric vehicle readiness is experiencing sharp structural shifts. Telangana recorded a dramatic ascent in the 2026 index, leaping from 25th place to claim the top spot nationwide. Andhra Pradesh similarly advanced, climbing from 13th place to secure second overall. Meanwhile, Chandigarh, which held the leading position in the previous evaluation cycle, moved to third place, sharing the upper tier with Haryana and Rajasthan.
Conversely, other metropolitan regions experienced notable declines in comparative readiness. Delhi recorded one of the steepest drops in the index, slipping from fourth place down to 17th as other states accelerated their infrastructure deployment and localized policy support at a much faster pace. Robert Fisher, senior consulting manager at SBD Automotive, noted that India remains among the most optimistic electric vehicle markets globally, though future market progression will depend heavily on balancing sheer infrastructure scale with rigorous operational quality.
Commercial Mobility and Powertrain Scale Drive Industrial Growth
Industrial manufacturing capacity is expanding in tandem with consumer readiness, particularly within the commercial vehicle segment. Electra EV, a powertrain integrator and battery pack manufacturer backed by the late Ratan Tata, recorded a threefold increase in its monthly business run-rate over a six-month period. The company is scaling its installed battery packing capacity from 3.6 gigawatt-hours to over 7 gigawatt-hours, supported by automated production lines at its Coimbatore facility that operate at a cycle time of 16 jobs per hour.
Samir Yajnik, CEO and Executive Director at Electra EV, highlighted that the business has transitioned from a multi-year period of platform development and supply chain structuring into rapid commercial scaling. The company expanded its customer roster to include major original equipment manufacturers such as Tata Motors and TVS Motor Company, alongside new contracts in the light commercial vehicle and passenger three-wheeler L5 sectors. Rigorous physical validation testing at the company Pune facility has helped minimize historical fleet warranty costs while supporting growing domestic and export manufacturing operations.
Closed-Loop Supply Chains and Advanced Anode Sourcing
Supply chain integration is extending deeper into raw material processing as domestic battery manufacturing expands. LICO Materials has developed a specialized recovery pathway to extract graphite from end-of-life lithium-ion batteries and manufacturing scrap. This recovered material is slated for supply to Epsilon Advanced Materials to serve as a secondary feedstock in graphite anode production, establishing a domestic closed-loop ecosystem.
Graphite accounts for roughly 20 to 30 percent of a lithium-ion battery weight and remains a critical component for anode active material. With India projected to face surging demand for lithium-ion storage, utilizing secondary graphite feedstock alongside conventional supplies aims to reduce supply chain vulnerabilities. Customer validation samples for the recovered graphite material are scheduled for release by the end of the year, reinforcing industry efforts to localize the battery value chain from raw materials to finished packs.
