[Dopamine]

A big limiting factor for EVs is the need to be charged at home, basically putting them out of reach for anyone who doesn't have a permanent parking spot.
In my experience plenty of people in India still park on the roadside.
Also due to the effort required to get a higher rated electricity connection and having the charger installed at home, EVs are only feasible for people aged above 40 something, well settled and certain that they won't have to move houses for a good number of years. Which means a lot of young working professionals who move around a lot can't buy them.
Once real estate starts catching up and every house and apartment starts coming with EV charging spots to begin with, they will really take off.

[sunilch]

US and other developed markets are quite ahead of us in terms of infra and available options/brands to choose from. Hence they can adopt EVs quite sooner than us.

India - ahh the land of contrasts and an oscillating pace of development. Sometimes too fast, sometimes too slow. I would wait for more companies to launch their models and some infra to come in place. See what kind of niggling issues we face (could be non-car related) and what kind of new taxes will we face. After all, reduced fuel consumption, if at all, due to EVs will lead to lower tax collection and higher electricity consumption. So we will see more taxes on electricity / EVs or increased rates in general on everything related. You see the beloved Government needs money - either from our left pocket or our right pocket.

So I will wait for the market to mature a bit here and then decide. Hence chose the option Long-term (5+ years or later). Not to forget, my current ride will serve me well until then for sure, if I can control my urge to upgrade

[dipdawiz]

Voted for long term 5years+ . Mostly around 2030.

My current car is due for change solely because its 10 years old and last chance to get a diesel SUV . So this time hopefully going for a diesel SUV as the heart says. And like the current car, would like to keep that car for 10 years too. Meanwhile expecting EV scenario would mature enough, both in number of options and infra - that's around 2030.

[yajaman99]

i voted to 1 to 2 years.
Reasons:
i have a leased vehicle which gets over in 2021. In the 20 years i have been driving in India i may have done 10 outstation trips.
My main use is city driving, home to office and back. Weekend mall hopping
If i need to go on long drives will use a Zoomcar or such.
Looking forward for the EV Nexon as it fits the price bracket and the current Nexon is quite a good vehicle.

However only time will tell as the Creta 2020 is also in my sight..

[StarrySky]

At this time, I have no intention of owning/leasing a second car. So, assuming that we are talking about an EV as a primary car, I voted for the Long Term (5+ years) option. The vote doesn't mean that I will be ready to buy an EV in 5 years' time, it just means that I will re-evaluate in about 4-5 years' time how practical an EV will be for me.

My main concern at this time is definitely charging infrastructure and range in that order. I live in an apartment where so far there has not been any talk about adding EV charging infrastructure. My rented parking place does have a charging point for plugging in the engine heater, but it works for only two hours in every 24h. Even if it worked all night, it cannot still charge an EV overnight and I haven't seen any options to upgrade it. So, unless I can have charging infrastructure at home which can fully charge my EV overnight, I won't be considering buying one. More so because keeping an EV as fully charged as possible is absolutely necessary - a learning from a recent emergency trip I had to make.

Why 5 years? Well, the lease on my current car runs for another 18 months, by which time I don't really see anything changing. So I will most likely go for another 36 months lease on a ICE or PHEV, which takes us to about 4.5 years from now before considering an EV.

[abhishek_hch]

Voted for "long term". The arrival of EVs can be pushed forth but at some point in time will arrive in everyone's house. With the current prices I do not see EVs making a big inroad into the car market, however as with all technologies they should become very affordable over time. Perhaps the cars that we buy 10 years down the line would be electrics for most of us.

[coolkurt]

Voted for long term - 5+ years. By that time, battery tech should have improved to give 500+ km range , which is more than sufficient to deal with the anxiety. Not expecting much in terms of charging infrastructure, even 5 years down the line. The charging points will be few and far too much gap in between to actually qualify as a reliable source.

[cmani0000]

Considering the excitement to try new technologies, I'm fine with all the uncertainties except one simple problem.

Suppose I gotta a sudden work in a nearby city, 350 Km away from mine, say chennai to bangalore, with a traditional car i'd never hesitate to start immediately but with EV i have to do a lot of planning that some people might not even afford. I have to drop my car at home/office, book a self drive car, wait and then start.

For now, having an EV even as a second car is not a good idea if you have the slightest chance of moderate distance travel.

[dzrebellz]

Now baby! I'm ready

This is the option I wanted to choose. The 'dream' was to have a self sufficient existence - solar powered house, Electric Scooter for the missus , Electric Car for me.
No dependency / anxiety on fuel or electricity prices day to day.

Step 1 - Ather 450 procured and running well to our needs
Step 2 - Solar researched, quotation obtained and was all set to go for 5kW installation
Step 3 - Kona test driven, ZS, Nexon EV researched and zeroed in on ZS ( yeah, sunroof + SUV suckered me in ). Range wise, I would have loved it if the 64kWh version of Kona was brought to India.

Unfortunately, one pertinent question was raised by the home minister.

Why would you buy a third car for the price of a decent apartment?
As luck would have it, an apartment did come up for sale which ticked the price and location factors.

Result: Dream put off for another day and now going with the head.

Voting 1-2 years .
Nexon still might make the cut, at the right pricing. Fingers crossed.

[chandu]

Voted 3-4 years, I have a feeling that within this time the charging infrastructure will be much improved. I am not sure if many people know but companies like IOC have started making investments in the electrical infra (I was also surprised to hear this but the gentleman said that they are an energy company and electricity is also energy).

So if this is truly an area of concern for them, I can imagine a time where all these oil companies also have an area set aside for fast charging of EV's.


For me personally, I purchased my V90CC only a 2 years ago and I am going to keep it for a minimum of 5 years, so hoping that I have many options to choose from at that time.

[JoshMachine]

Voted for 5+ years.

Reason for this longish futuristic view is multi fold: charging infra + battery tech enhancements + EV service maturity across the country + national / proper EV policy outlining clear rules of engagement, repairs etc .

Electricity availability as such, in general, should not be much of an issue if we consider the below positive trends:-



Source - Powermin.nic.in

However what WILL be an issue is the translation of this into easy and practical availability for the general public.

Unless we have charging points on tap aka fuel pumps of today, EV proliferation is a distant dream. And this is only the infra part. Equally important will be the issue around governance regarding pricing,metering etc.

[AVL500]

I voted for long term - 5+ years as I just purchased a new vehicle an year back and do not have an option to maintain 2 cars. However I am very sure EVs will start getting mainstream in mid term i.e. 4-5 years. I will not give reasons as they have already been given and I am in total agreement. BTW, I was driving Delhi -Chandigarh last weekend and happen to take a break at Karnal which is roughly mid way at a Haryana Govt. owned place called "Oasis", I was pleasantly surprised to see an EV charging station with 4 docks. Attaching few pics of the same.

[Axe77]

I voted 1 - 2 years. (actually maybe 2 - 3 years). Personally as a two car family, I am ready to take the plunge into an EV. 90% of my driving is within city so I would like it to be not a small EV like a Wagon R but a medium size comfortable EV, big enough to be driven around in with comfort and also to drive around yourself. I think the Creta size options that are coming out fit this bill well. Since I have a 4 year old 3 GT, 1 - 2 years would be a good time frame since it will ensure I am using the GT to its fullest until then as my primary car.

I still see us as very far from EVs being the only car capable of doing EVERYTHING that ICE cars can do for us. To that end, I would actually buy a mid size second car for even occasional long trips and as the second city car. The ICE car needs to be comfortable and big enough to be safe and fun on a long drive (think Vento / Creta segment) - equally I would balk at spending big luxury money given that I would be using it as a low run second car. This would essentially replace my GT once it hits the 8 - 10 year mark, I may even think of a slightly better used car so that I can get max bang for buck for this second car.

Things I want comfort on before taking the EV plunge:

1. The product:

- Big & comfortable size (think Creta size), options like Nexon, Seltos and MG fit this bill.
- Range - at least 250 kms real world range with all the traffic conditions that Mumbai city can throw up which doesn't reduce as the car ages.
- Well built enough to own over a 8-10 year horizon.

2. Charging infrastructure at home

I live in a large (500 units +) professionally managed apartment complex in Mumbai with dedicated covered parking. I am dependent on whatever policy the society comes up with for EV charging. Before shelling out the greenbacks, I will need the confidence that whatever fast charging mechanism an EV provides, my society guarantees a dedicated charging facility to me at a price that is ~cost based and not exorbitant. It should also not be like a general public charging point (think slower general chargers) but should have the ability to allow me to install my own bespoke charger either in my own parking or whatever dedicated space they create for EV charging points.


SIDENOTE:

On a slightly unrelated note perhaps, I am actually ready to experiment with a nice premium electric scooter TODAY. I have toyed with the idea of a scooter generally given the chaotic mess of an area I live in (sewri, parel, lower parel at Mumbai). I think a small family friendly scooter is pretty handy for just little jaunts within a 3 km radius.

[hkollar]

I have been using a Electric car for 5yrs now.

Planning on my next EV this year. Like the range of Kona, except for the GC and the reported harsh ride.

So, Nexon may be it.

[bornnerd]

Voted for - Now baby! I'm ready

I currently drive Swift Dzire which is due for upgrade. My dad has Honda City. So am ok taking the bet on Electric Car as I know I am mostly going to use electric car for city driving. Good launches by MG and Tata , along with tax rebate + no RC in Mumbai have helped me take the plunge.

Pre-booked MG ZS EV, thinking to also pre-book Tata Nexon for introductory pricing and decide between the two next week.