EV policy may be extended yet again

Context

In the absence of the new policy, the Delhi government is likely to further extend the existing one with only a few days left for its deadline, third time from its original date of expiry.

About

Implementation Delays

Draft of the new electric vehicle (EV) policy is still in progress, leading to further delays.
Officials consider extending the existing policy for the third time due to impending deadline.

Impact on EV Economy

The benefits for EV purchases, including rebates and subsidies, are set to expire, potentially affecting the positive environment for EV sales.
Despite the costliness of EVs, incentives fueled a 20% increase in sales during the first half of the current financial year.

Policy Extension Plans

A cabinet note is expected to propose a 3 to 6-month extension for the existing policy to maintain the supportive environment.
This marks the third extension, with the original policy expiring in August and subsequent extensions pushing the deadline to December 31.

Policy Development Challenges

The expected launch of Delhi EV Policy 2.0 faces delays due to the removal of project contributors following L-G's instructions.
Initial optimism for the new policy's completion before the old policy's expiration changed with the removal of fellows and researchers.

Timeline of EV Policy Implementation

August 2020: EV policy launched for a 3-year duration.
Nearly 20% share of EVs in vehicle sales achieved.
Extensions granted on August 7 and October 23.
EV Policy 2.0 aims to incentivize the retrofitting of vehicles from conventional fuels to electric mode.

Electric Vehicles help with better air quality, reduced noise pollution, enhanced energy security and in combination with a low carbon power generation mix, reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
India is a member of the Electric Vehicles Initiative (EVI), a multi-governmental policy forum dedicated to accelerating the deployment of EVs. The EV@30 campaign, launched in 2017, sets a collective aspirational goal for all EVI members to have EVs contribute to 30% of all vehicle sales by 2030.
In 2013, Government of India had launched a National Electric Mobility Mission Plan 2020. Under the mission plan, the Scheme for Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid&) Electric Vehicles in India (‘FAME India’) was launched in March, 2015 for two years as Phase-I, which has subsequently been extended up to 31 March, 2019.
Despite Central and State government incentives, pure electric vehicle penetration currently remains quite low in India, about 0.1% for cars, ~0.2% for 2 wheelers and practically nil for commercial vehicles.
This is largely driven by following critical hurdles: a) high upfront purchase price of EVs, b) almost non-existent public charging infrastructure, c) lack of products comparable to ICE vehicles (especially in the 2 wheeler category) and d) low levels of investment in EV manufacturing capacity
More than half of the EV sales worldwide were in China, where electric cars had a market share of 2.2% in 2017.
In the world’s most developed market for electric cars - Norway, electric cars accounted for 39% of new car sales in 2017.
EVs to reach upfront cost parity with internal combustion engine (‘ICE’) vehicles by 2025, largely driven by rapid reductions in battery costs.