This paper encapsulates the views of over 20 leading commercial electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers, logistics operators, financing experts, and practitioners on India’s electric vehicle transition trajectory. The stakeholders, representing the commercial vehicle ecosystem, deliberated on the opportunities and challenges in scaling up commercial freight electrification in the country.

With its rapidly evolving domestic ecosystem and significant freight movement corridors, India is well positioned to lead the electrification of commercial vehicles and policy support is necessary to ensure an accelerated transition.

Over the course of four deep-dive sessions, held in Bengaluru last year, WRI India brought together more than 20 leading commercial EV manufacturers, logistics operators, financing experts, and practitioners to discuss India’s electric vehicle transition trajectory. The stakeholders, representing the commercial vehicle ecosystem, deliberated on the opportunities and challenges in scaling up commercial freight electrification in the country.

Key Findings

Some of the key insights and recommendations provided by the panelists were the following:

• Provide policy and regulatory support to accelerate the transition of road freight.
• Evolve new technologies, standardize processes, and forge mutual collaborations among various stakeholders to usher in decarbonization strategies for the sector.
• Institute production-linked subsidies, which will cut costs and encourage more manufacturers and business enterprises to switch to EVs.
• Develop viable business models and financing structures to enable smaller lenders to join the market for electrification of fleets.
• Identify specific use cases to showcase the viability of electric freight vehicles in Indian conditions