Whitepaper – Green Wheels on Lease: Exploring the role of EV Leasing in India
Date of Release – February 2025
Electric Vehicle (EV) leasing is a vital component of India’s transport decarbonization strategy, reducing reliance on internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles and accelerating fleet turnover. By mitigating financial risks, leasing lowers barriers to EV adoption, facilitating a faster transition to zero-emission transport while significantly reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. With appropriate policy support, financial innovation, and industry collaboration, EV rental can serve as a key driver of India’s shift toward sustainable mobility, in alignment with initiatives by NITI Aayog to support clean mobility solutions.
EV leasing is transforming various markets. In the e-2W and e-3W segments, it is driving the expansion of gig economy, last-mile delivery, and passenger transport, with major players like Ola, Uber, Flipkart, and Amazon adopting asset-light models. For e-4Ws and e-buses, corporate fleets and public transport operators benefit from predictable lease payments, reducing capital expenditure while ensuring cost-effective fleet management. In the electric truck segment, leasing offers a viable financing alternative, addressing high acquisition costs and facilitating electrification in the logistics sector.
This whitepaper provides a comprehensive analysis of EV rental and leasing in India, assessing market opportunities, challenges, and growth potential across key segments. It examines financial models such as operational leasing, financial leasing, pay-as-you-go structures, and Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS), demonstrating their role in enhancing affordability and lowering the total cost of ownership (TCO) for individuals, businesses, and fleet operators.
Despite its potential, the EV rental and leasing market faces significant challenges, including financial institutions’ reluctance to fund leased EVs, regulatory uncertainties, and cultural preferences for vehicle ownership. To overcome these barriers, this whitepaper outlines key policy interventions such as tax incentives, green financing, and viability gap funding.
By fostering financial and regulatory support, EV leasing can be positioned as a mainstream mobility solution, accelerating India’s transition to a cleaner and more sustainable transport system.
The EV leasing whitepaper covers the following content:
- Introduction
- Business Models
- Stakeholder’s roles & responsibilities
- Market Landscape
- Potential of EV Leasing in India
- Scope of leasing in E2W segment
- Scope of leasing in E3W segment
- Scope of leasing in E4W segment
- Scope of leasing in E-Bus segment
- Scope of leasing in E-Trucks segment
- Risks and Challenges
- Recommendations
A comprehensive analysis of market shares, top-selling states, and key players for CY2024 (Jan–Dec 2024) can be found in JMK’s Annual Report Card CY2024.