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Electric Vehicle Adoption in India: A Narrative Review and Analysis of National and State-Level Trends Across Vehicle Categories

Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.57017/jgsd.v3.i3.04
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Author(s):
  • J. JYOTI Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, National Institute of Technology Kurukshetra, India
  • Kiran MOR Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, National Institute of Technology Kurukshetra, India
Abstract:

Electric vehicles (EVs) represent a critical pathway toward sustainable transportation and the reduction of vehicular emissions. This study combines a narrative review of theoretical and empirical literature with a descriptive analysis of EV adoption trends across India from FY2016–17 to FY2024–25. The findings highlight the role of economic, technological, behavioural, and policy-related factors in shaping EV adoption. The analysis reveals significant expansion in EV sales, with electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers dominating the market while four-wheelers continue to show relatively low penetration. Considerable regional disparities were observed, with large states leading in absolute sales volume and smaller states and Union Territories recording higher penetration rates. A comparative profile of high- and low-performing states, assessed on both absolute EV sales and EV adoption rate, indicates that charging infrastructure and population density are the strongest differentiators of EV performance, while literacy rate and per capita income do not emerge as associated factors. Bottom-performing states are predominantly in the North-Eastern region, suggesting that geographic remoteness, difficult terrain, and limited market size are deeper structural barriers to EV adoption. The study underscores the need for differentiated policy strategies focused on infrastructure expansion, affordability-oriented incentives, and region-specific interventions to accelerate India's EV transition.



© The Author(s) 2026. Published by RITHA Publishing. This article is distributed under the terms of the license CC-BY 4.0., which permits any further distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited maintaining attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and URL DOI.


Article’s history: Received 1st of April, 2026; Revised 23rd of May, 2026; Accepted for publication 30th of June, 2026; Available online: 9th of July, 2026. Published as research article in Volume III, Issue 3.


How to cite:

Jyoti & Mor, K. (2026). Electric Vehicle Adoption in India: A Narrative Review and Analysis of National and State-Level Trends Across Vehicle Categories. Journal of Global Sustainability and Development, Volume III, Issue 3, 67-87. https://doi.org/10.57017/jgsd.v3.i3.04


CRediT Authorship Contribution Statement: Jyoti: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft. Kiran Mor: Supervision, Validation, Writing – review & editing. Author Approval: The corresponding author confirms that both authors have reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript and that the contributions reported above accurately reflect their respective roles in the research.


Conflict of Interest Statement: The author declares that there are no financial, professional, or personal conflicts of interest that could have influenced the research, analysis or interpretation presented in this article.


Acknowledgments: The authors would like to thank the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, National Institute of Technology Kurukshetra, for providing the necessary academic support to carry out this research.


Data Availability Statement: The data supporting the findings of this study were obtained from publicly available secondary sources, including the VAHAN Dashboard, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Ministry of Power, Reserve Bank of India, Census of India, and the Periodic Labour Force Survey. The compiled dataset used in the analysis is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.


Ethical Approval Statement: This study is based on the analysis of publicly available secondary data and previously published literature. Therefore, ethical approval was not required.


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