Remember when every one of our grandparents’ stories began with “I used to walk for 5kms to get to school every day.” ….Theirs was a time where any type of wheeled object was a novelty…. Fossil fuels were used rarely and walking or cycling around was a great form of leisure, it still is, but just now it is viewed as a sport done only for marathons or races. Providing the luscious reassurance of “yeah Im healthy, yeah I’ve got great stamina” and a pinch of “Maa look, I won medal.” We used to soothe ourselves and trick our brains to thinking we are doing the healthy thing.

Now in 2025, where self-driving and flying cars are very real things. Imagine telling the rural population of a country, that they could fly to their school 5 kms away. How would they react?…We’re looking at least one or two accusations of black magic. Some minor protests or morchas and a brawl over how ‘my God is better than yours.’ Ok Im exagerating, maybe there won’t be too many dramatic fall outs; albeit not zero either.

The Indian government has set an ambitious target for EVs to make up 30% of total passenger vehicle sales by FY 2030, supported by plans for subsidies, financing options, and infrastructure development¹. (Source:- https://www.spglobal.com/automotive-insights/en/blogs/2025/03/india-ev-market-trends-future ) But, what not being spoken about the the gap betweeen sustaianable charging infrastructure and the rising sales of EVs.

So to EV or not to EV?  seems like a contentious topic of discussion…. Set on a stage with the background of the rural population vs. the urban clan, climate change vs. climate destruction.

So the short answer on a surface level is…. EV…. always EV. However, there is a caveat.

First lets look at the pros, considering polution and all, investing in an EV is the moral high ground, definately, or atleast it is a sufficiently manicured grassland of morality.

To want to choose something that is not disastrous to the already ailing environment, should be a convenient go to default behaviour setting. Right?

Where it does get somewhat fraudulent is when it is positioned as a better standard of living with it’s charging sources not yet fully clean or transparent. Energy-wise, and corporate mis-information-wise.

The current number of EV charging stations in the country as of April 1, 2025 is, 26,367² , according to the Bureau of Energy Efficiency with the ideal target being reaching 3.9 million charging stations by 2030³. Which is not an impossible goal, but a far-fetched one, to an optimally pessimistic citizen.

Don’t get me wrong India is definitely heading towards a sustainable, more energy efficient future. I mean this. not sarcastically. At the same time I am fully aware of the population explostion and wild growth of economic activity also expected in the near future.

In another related statistic India is aiming to meet only 50% of its energy needs through non-fossil sources by 2030. [i] Which is still only half of the total sustainable energy generation India needs to propel the EV market forward…. Set backs are a part of life, sure, but news like a delay in the commissioning of thermal power projects will likely see the addition of an 8000MW capacity as compared to the target of 15000 MW⁴ really dampens our hope about the future. I mean simply put what is the point of plugging a ‘clean’ energetic mode of transport to a ‘unclean’ source?

It is a gargantuan task with the state of our current population and given the civil infrastructure. Coming from the point of view of a hyperactive city like Mumbai where roads are dug and re-dug every few days, and the local authorities miscalculate the placement of highways and bridges. With any free space occupied or vying to be occupied by builders or slum dwellers. There is nowhere to put the solar panels or other equipment to generate clean electricity.

So, the catch here is not the number, in terms of sales of electric vehicles but the number of sustainabily powered charging stations to foster the growing number of EVs.

Due Regards,

– The optimally pessimistic citizen

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[i] https://cleanmobilityshift.com/industry/fueling-evs-with-sunlight-the-synergy-between-residential-solar-and-e-mobility/

1. https://www.spglobal.com/automotive-insights/en/blogs/2025/03/india-ev-market-trends-future ↩︎
2. https://evyatra.beeindia.gov.in/public-charging-stations/ ↩︎
3. https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/india-needs-39-lakh-charging-stations-by-2030-report/article69187609.ece#goog_rewarded ↩︎
4. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/energy/power/india-may-add-8-gw-of-thermal-power-capacity-in-fy25-against-15-gw-target/articleshow/117610238.cms?from=mdr ↩︎