[sri_tesla]

This is an interesting poll and a timely one. 2019 is definitely an interesting year for the Indian EV market. A year ago we don't have any modern EVs available for purchase. Now suddenly we have 3 EVs with decent ranges at different price points. Good thing is, there is already some competition in the market. Tata is planning to bring one more (Altroz EV) next year at an even lower price than Nexon EV. Chinese companies like Great Wall Motors, Changan, FAW, BYD, etc... are planning to enter the Indian market in the next 2-3 years. They are also considering whether to set up EV battery assembly plants in India.

Coming to my purchase, it will most likely be in 2-3 years. My current vehicle (CITY) is 5 years old and it is in good condition, has most of the modern features (cruise control, auto ac, etc...). Also, my daily usage is very low. As the EV technology is evolving at a rapid pace, hopefully, there will be more options by that time. Basically, Hyundai Kona will serve all my needs but its too pricey currently. I will purchase once the similar vehicle comes down to around Rs 15 lakhs.

[jkumar007]

Being optimistic, I voted for Mid-term (3 - 4 years). Given the awareness about EVs, Pollution, Global warming, etc., an electric vehicle will be one of the considerable option for potential car buyer in 3 to 4 years. Early adopters might have a tough time to find a charging station and also to maintain it.

Even though OEMs claim the EV mileage, the real mileages with ACs switched ON during a hot summer in cities like Chennai will tell the real mileage.

In reality, it would take more than 5 years for EVs to become mainstream. Price has to get reduced, there must be a EV charging point wherever we turn our eyes.

All covered parking lots should get a charging point for every slot. People haven't started imagining it yet. Even the newest basement parking lot being built in 2019 is also not having such infrastructure.

Looks like we may see a flurry of electric motor cycles in the next 1 to 2 years, and I hope it will help EV adoption.

[vinmechanic]

We certainly need better charging infrastructure in India to boost EV sales in India. In some US states, Owners get tax incentives, half-price tolls, and access to HOV (High occupancy vehicle lanes) without having more than one person in vehicle.

If govt decides to add dedicated lanes on Toll booths and free/discounted tolls, it will encourage many daily commuters to move to EV.

I think we'll need at least 5 years to come to the point where an average Indian car buyer will see EV as an option to have EV as only car in family.

[Durango Dude]

Buying an EV would be a choice determined by the infrastructure being in place. As and when that happens and battery tech improves and till a power-bank comes on. It will be fossil for me. So I've voted for the 4th option: 5 years or later. I can't see myself taking an hour long break just to add juice to the batteries.

[Rahul Rao]

I always needed two cars at home, one diesel which runs about 40k to 50K a year and two petrol cars that run about 7k to 8k km a year.
Last two years we were 1 car short, and who ever has least usage takes an Ola or Uber.
The in city petrol car traveled just over 10000km last year, and we spent about Rs 60000 on cabs, and saved about Rs 40000 on fuel and insurance expense.
Longest that car ran was one 1100km trip to Akola and back.

In the last year the diesel car did 23 one day trips where the days run was between 450km and 700 km to places like Belgaum, Vapi, Aurangabad, etc totaling about 13000km. All other days the car did trips to places like Mumbai, Patalganga MIDC, Ahmednagar MIDC, Satara MIDC, etc. Except for trips to Mumbai where I have a place to set up my own charging point, all other trips were within 150 and 250km which is doable in a single charge.
If I change one car to electric, and use other car for trips to places beyond 250 km and Mumbai, I should be able to manage about 35000 electric km, and little over 23000 IC engine km a year, viable enough to go in for an Nexon EV.


Rahul

[ram87pune]

Voted for "now baby I am ready".

My daily driver for the last 7.5 years is the Jetta diesel. It has covered more than 1.2 lakh kms in this span. I would say more than 1 lakh kms out of the 1.2 lakh have been done on Home-Bakery-Home commute which is around 40 kms. Now my car does this "fixed" commute from Tuesday to Sunday(Monday being off) without fail week in week out. So my weekly running is no more than 300 kms.

Now the MG EZS which is launching shortly has a certified range of 300 plus kms which should be fine for my weekly usage. So most likely I would charge her on Sunday night and use it till the next Sunday afternoon on a single charge. I can fix a charging point at both my workplace and home easily. Plus since it's not going to see much highway duty beyond a radius of 100 kms is another advantage.

So since I am thinking about replacing my Jetta next year, I have the EZS at the very top of my consideration set. Range anxiety, charging infrastructure etc don't bother me at all since I have the Hexa for long highway duties.

[GTO]

Wow, 50 votes up and merely 5.xx percent have said no to EVs! I honestly thought that 30-40% of petrol heads will shun them. This is clearly showing that EV acceptability is on the rise, even among diehard gearheads .

[speedmiester]

I am ready for EV. As a previous EV owner, the limitations I had with E2O are addressed by the new crops of EVs getting launched in India.
70-75% of my drives are between Bangalore and Mysore where I have sufficient infra to charge the car. So an EV with 300Kms range suffices this need. For the rest of the drives which are spread across and are usually planned in advance, I have a second car at home which will suffice for those trips, besides that I always have an option to borrow my brother's car/hire a taxi/self drive cars.

I have booked a Nexon EV for this reason, it fulfills all my needs except for the requirement of 6 airbags. MG ZS and Kona will touch almost 25L in Bangalore, while Nexon EV will be around 17-18L. While I can afford all the three EVs in the market, I found Kona's rear seats to be cramped which is a deal breaker for me and in MG ZS, again the rear seats are set so low with very poor under thigh support which is another deal breaker.
Have driven a Nexon on long drives and found it to be suitable for my needs as my current car is Ecosport.
Besides, my wife will also be comfortable driving a Nexon over Kona and ZS.

I plan my trips meticulously to the last detail and I am confident that with a little planning I can cover larger distances with an EV.

There are examples of people driving their E2O Plus to Tirupati and back from Bangalore, so the new range of EVs will can do much more.

[sajands]

I am not against EV's but unless we have a ready infrastructure in place there is no point in investing in a EV.

None of the malls are EV ready with charging stations, we dont have designated parking spots with charging docks for EV's forget EV's for normal car's we dont have proper parking locations in and around the city.

[anandhsub]

I probably will only when I see the need for a second car which is definitely not on the horizon at the moment. My current car sees a lot of 350-400km drives often non stop and overnight. Impossible to trust an EV in that scenario. In my diesel Verna I have done even a blr-chennai-blr roundtrip in a day on a single tank.

The other issue is the lack of charging infra at the apartment I rent. I think it's possible only when I own my own place and I can setup atleast one dependable place for charging.

I don't have too much environmental concerns about EVs like battery disposal or using coal power but I do hope in the long term when my other conditions are met most power that we get is from renewables.

[Shreyans_Jain]

The only reason I voted for 1-2 years and not right now is because I already have 4 cars and don’t see any point in replacement just yet. IC engined cars today have become unreasonably expensive over the past 5-7 years and don’t offer value anymore. It’s all more of the same now. EVs with instant pickup and low running and maintenance costs, no or reduced road tax and super silent drive offer something new and exciting. They are the perfect second car today. They will get good enough to become someone’s only car in a few years.

Right now, I have a Hexa, a Jazz, a diesel City and our good old Scorpio. By two years down the line, Scorpio will have been scrapped, I’ll keep the Hexa for touring or family use, and I’d like to replace both Hondas with EVs. Ideally a hatch/crossover and a sedan, both with 300-400km real world range and SOLID torque. These new EVs will anyway have all the fancy features the Seltos or Hector have.

Basically, one big diesel (preferably 4x4) for my whims and fancies, and electrics for my daily needs.

Bonus: all EVs are automatic by default!! No working the clutch, no worries of laggy CVTs or unreliable DSGs or unintelligent torque converters.

[nitishk]

Until and unless we dont have a solid power charging infrastructure, I wont be an EV guy. The last thing I want is to carry another powerbank for my car.

[FrodoOfTheShire]

Voted for Long Term. Few reasons -

1) Just bought a car last year and intend to keep it for a minimum of 8-10 years. Hopefully the whole EV landscape would've matured by the time I shop for new car

2) We are a single car family, so no 2nd or 3rd car for us which would allow for testing the EV waters

3) Staying away from my hometown means staying in rented apartments which would make it difficult for an early EV adopter to make charging infrastructure changes in an apartment

Long story short, I don't want to be a guinea pig for these early EVs and bear the teething problems. I'll pick one up only when it becomes mainstream

[padmrajravi]

Voted for Long term. I bought a car two years ago and will not think about one until it is 2024. Even then I am not sure I would buy an EV as a primary car.

I live in a tier 2 city and power cuts are still possible here. Recently during the second floods that Kerala witnessed, my house did not have power for 2 consecutive days. I took my Hexa for a drive, filled diesel, idled for about 1.5 hours and charged 5 phones to 100 %. At least in my place, petrol/diesel availability is more dependable than electricity availability.

[Ithaca]

Voted for Option 5.

For me, only if the government of the day, makes it mandatory will I ever buy an EV.
Not worth buying a product that needs constant recharging which involves minimum 45 minutes for fast charge when I can top up my fuel tank in less than 5 minutes and go from Kanyakumari to Kashmir & back with zero hassles.
I want to see real world experience in the range of an electric car with full power in our summers where AC will always be on.

There is an amount of pollution involved in making every aspect of an electric car and also to manufacture the excess electric power needed to run it - even Solar power uses panels that need some polluting related manufacturing.

Fuels are getting cleaner, the engines are more efficient nowadays and getting better engineered to reduce pollution levels. I would any day use an IC engine to an EV.