A record 19.5% of vehicles sold in the city in December were electric, the highest reported in any state till date, according to Delhi‘s transport department.
Minister Kailash Gahlot said: “Delhi recorded a massive 19.5% EV sales of the overall vehicles sold in December 2023. It is the highest in any state in India till date. Overall, in 2023, Delhi registered a total of 6,57,312 vehicles out of which 73,610 were electric.”
In December, 48,774 vehicles were sold in Delhi. Of these 9,510 were electric.
The minister gave percentages of EV sales from January to December. In March 2023, 14.7% of the vehicles sold were EVs, the second highest of 2023. In May, the percentage stood at 14.4%.
The sale of private electric cars has witnessed a jump over the last two years, the data showed. In 2021, 1,526 private electric cars were sold in the capital. The number increased to 3,114 in 2022 and 5,800 in 2023, according to the data.
Commercial electric cars have also seen a huge jump in sales. In 2021, 426 electric commercial cars were sold. This increased to 2,515 in 2022 and to 2,453 in 2023.
An official said that the reason behind the high number of EV purchases was month-end interest and an EV policy that encouraged people to switch to electric vehicles. The policy lapsed on December 31 after multiple extensions. It has now been extended till March 31.
According to the EV policy, two-wheelers were eligible for a INR 5,000 subsidy per kWh of battery capacity. Three-wheelers are eligible for a INR 30,000 subsidy, regardless of overall cost or battery capacity. Subsidy for four-wheelers is INR 10,000 per kWh of battery capacity. It was available only for the first 1,000 EVs registered under the scheme.
The EV policy which had expired on August 8, 2023, was given repeated extensions as the fresh policy had not been readied. The department had earlier said the policy was stuck after termination of services of advisors, consultants and fellows in the department.
Gahlot said these advisors, consultants and fellows had technical expertise and were working on several policies, including EV 2.0, cab and bus aggregators.
Officials said the government has almost finalised a new EV policy which would be called Delhi EV policy 2.0.
However, it is yet to be decided when the policy will come into effect.
After CNG, the transition to EVs is the next biggest in the national capital.
