Gujarat Leads In Sale Of Electric Vehicles

New Delhi: Gujarat, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra have emerged as the top 5 states in electric vehicle (EV) sales, the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) said on Thursday. An SMEV survey of EVs sold during the last fiscal showed that 1,926 of these were sold in Maharashtra, 2,388 in Rajasthan, 2,467 in Uttar Pradesh, 2,846 in West Bengal and 4,330 in Gujarat, which made it the to the top in bringing the maximum number of e-vehicles on road.

"In addition, 25,000 e-vehicles were sold across India between 2016-17," an SMEV release said here. "The study was conducted on all electric 2 wheelers and 4 wheelers which were sold during 2016-2017 and are successfully running in the mentioned states," it said. Of all the EVs sold, 92 percent were two-wheelers and only 8 percent were four-wheelers, the study showed.

"However, Delhi, which initially used to top this list, now, surprisingly ranks 7th with only 1072 e-vehicles sold," the statement added. "As far as other states are concerned, there is a dire need for them to go electric on an urgent basis," SMEV Director (Corporate Affairs) Sohinder Gill said in a statement. Challenges such as delay in subsidies and weak infrastructure need to be addressed, he added. (IANS)