From Crude Oil to Electricity: Examining the Shift in Indian Consumer Preferences and Behaviour Towards Electric Vehicles

Abstract

The Industrial Revolution spurred mass production, making petrol vehicles affordable and accessible. The government invested in infrastructure to accommodate their widespread use, but environmental concerns arose. Efforts to address these led to the promotion of alternatives like CNG vehicles, with incentives driving their adoption. Despite emitting fewer greenhouse gases than gasoline vehicles, CNG still poses environmental challenges. Electric vehicles, emitting zero tailpipe emissions, offer superior ecological benefits. Electric vehicles (EVs) are one of the near-term practical solutions to vehicle technology providing solutions to growing concerns over environmental sustainability. The acceptance of a new product is always difficult in a market having people who are so traditionally driven and laggards. This paper aims to analyze the preferences through questionnaires learning various factors driving consumers' purchase decisions. The paper also discusses the importance of charging infrastructure in influencing customer’s product choices. To what extent has India inculcated ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ in the brains of Indians that could drive consumers to delve into Indian-manufactured or foreign-manufactured EVs? Through the survey of 80+ vehicle consumers, the paper scrutinizes the customer’s ideal price point for both EV 2-wheelers and 4-wheelers to help manufacturers make pricing decisions. Lastly, we enquire about consumers’ optimism towards EV adoption in the future. The paper concludes that 71.6% of people desire to switch to EVs because of environmental concerns, 58% because of cost savings on fuel, and less emission of greenhouse gases. The data results show that customers' non-purchase decision is influenced by a lack of undeveloped charging infrastructure, lack of awareness of government incentives, high maintenance costs, uncertainty about the reliability of the technology, and higher prices of EVs as compared to petrol and diesel vehicles. Also, 81.5% of people expressed their view to have automobiles manufactured in India from the opposing belief that foreign manufactured goods have a superior quality. More than 60% of the market is optimistic towards electric vehicles (EVs) dominating the automotive sector in India within the next five years.