Chennai

The sale of electric vehicles (EVs) in Tamil Nadu saw a 400 per cent increase in 2021, thanks to an unprecedented hike in fuel prices. This is despite inadequate public charging facilities.

As the prices of petrol remain over Rs 100 per litre, the demand for battery-operated vehicles is on the rise. People want to save fuel costs and as a result, the sale of e-scooters has increased considerably in Tamil Nadu.

According to the VAHAN dashboard, as many as 30,036 EVs, over 97 per cent of them two-wheelers, have been registered in the State in 2021 as against the 5,696 EVs registered in 2020. In 2019, the State had 3,444 EV registration.

Besides the steep hike in petrol and diesel prices, the central and State governments offering tax ex-emptions for EV purchase has also helped in the increased sale.

The Centre has revised the guidelines for the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Elec-tric Vehicles in India (FAME) scheme to increase subsidies for the batteries from 15-25 per cent to 40 per cent, said an expert from IIT-M. “Moreover, TN has relaxed road tax for EV,” the expert said, add-ing that the State should also come out with a subsidy for EVs like Delhi and Gujarat.

The lack of adequate public charging stations is still a deterrent to EVs. According to the Ministry of Power data, TN has 94 public charging stations. Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a company under the Power Ministry, operates eight public charging stations at Chennai Metro stations.

S Venu, who owns an e-scooter, said, “I charge my scooter once in two days after returning home from the work. It takes at least five hours to fully charge the battery.”

A senior transport department official said more public charging stations would come up as they are demand-driven.

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