With Overall EV investments Crossing US$2 billion, Indian EV Dream on Track to Become a Reality

With the recent big-ticket investment of US$ 1 billion raised by Tata Motors, the Electric Vehicle movement has established itself as a revolution that is poised to revamp our transportation system. Thus, it becomes prudent enough to analyse the different investments that have been made so far in this segment to understand the growth prospects that exists for the EV sector in India.

So far, including the recent Tata Motors’ investment, more than US$ 2.2 billion has been raised by Indian players in this segment, which is distributed across different vehicle categories as depicted below.

Fig 1: Share of investments raised by different EV segments

Source:  News Articles, JMK Research EV Database

Others include investments raised by charging infrastructure and Indian battery companies

Note: Insights have been created from only the investments with disclosed investment amounts, and does not account for undisclosed investments

Electric two-wheelers (47%) account for the maximum share of investments, followed by E-Cars (46%). These two segments alone make up 93% of the overall investments made in this segment.  As mentioned above, investments in E-Car segment have been driven by the recent Tata Motors investment which on its own constitutes 44.2% of overall investments (in terms of dollar amount) in the EV market, as depicted in Figure 2. The figure below also illustrates the shares of investments made in different players in different EV segments. E2W segment by far has the most number of players who have successfully been able to raise investments.

Fig 2: Player-wise illustration of share of total disclosed investments

Source: JMK Research

Others include investments raised by charging infrastructure and Indian battery companies

Note: Insights have been created from only the investments with disclosed investment amounts, and does not account for undisclosed investments

Let’s dive a little into these different segments to see who are the major players and how are they contributing to the EV revolution in India.

Electric Two-Wheelers

Accounting for 47% of the total investments raised, the E2W segment has become the poster boy for the EV revolution in India, given that it fulfils the need for personal mobility at minimal costs. This has been confirmed by the recent restructuring in the FAME-II policy which has increased incentives only for the E2Ws to attract potential customers. Within this segment, there are two types of companies that are playing an active role, as illustrated in the figure below.

Fig 3: Investment split within the E2W segment

Source:  News Articles, JMK Research EV Database

Note: Insights have been created from only the investments with disclosed investment amounts, and does not account for undisclosed investments

OEMs and manufacturers are  at the forefront of the EV transition and have raised 59% of the overall investments raised by E2W companies. While established players such as Okinawa and Hero Electric have been able to raise funds internally, other innovators such as Ola, Ampere, and Ather have been able to attract major investments, which is illustrated in Figure 4.

Given the boom of the e-commerce industry in India, there is an urgent push by these companies to decarbonize their supply chains. This provides a golden opportunity for E2Ws to be used for last-mile deliveries, as long travel distances combined with lower charging tariffs can also allow players to optimize costs. Another use case where there is growing popularity is ride sharing or ride rentals for self-driving. Players such as Bounce, Yulu, and Vogo have raised huge investments to create such an eco-system, as depicted in Figure 4.

Fig 4: Key players and investments raised in the E2W segment

Source: JMK Research

Note: Insights have been created from only the investments with disclosed investment amounts, and does not account for undisclosed investments

Electric Three-Wheelers

While E3Ws account for only 1% of the total investments raised, they accounted for over 63% of the total EVs registered in India in FY2021. Within E3Ws, there is further segmentation into passenger E3Ws and cargo E3Ws, from which passenger E3Ws have a majority share in terms of registrations. Most of the players in this segment have been able to raise funds internally, which explains the lower share of overall investments.

Fig 5: Investments raised by E3W Players

Source: JMK Research

Note: Insights have been created from only the investments with disclosed investment amounts, and does not account for undisclosed investments

Electric Cars

Interestingly, while E-Cars account for 46% of the total investments raised, they accounted for only 4% of the total EV registrations in India in FY2021. Additionally, players in this sector are the established automakers who are raising funds internally, except for Tata Motors with its recent investment of US$ 1 billion from TPG Rise and ADQ. Apart from this investment, the only other investments raised in this segment are:

  • BluSmart (US$ 32 mn),
  • Lithium Urban Technologies (US$ 8 mn) and
  • Mean Metal Motors (US$ 3.49 mn).

What’s astonishing is that had the Tata Motors investment not happened, E-Cars would have accounted for only 3.44% of the total investments raised.

Electric Buses

Electric buses account for 3% of the total investments raised in the EV sector. Unlike other segments where the end-user can directly purchase the vehicle from the manufacturer, E-Buses are currently procured only by state governments under the FAME scheme, by way of tenders where different OEMs bid to bag the order. There have been only two investments in the sector:

  • The biggest chunk (US$ 53.8 million) being invested by GreenCell Mobility, an Ever-Source Capital-backed firm, in PMI Electro.
  • The remaining investment of US$ 18 million was made by the Dana Group in Switch Mobility, a subsidiary of Ashok Leyland.
  • Other players such as JBM and Olectra have raised funds by entering into joint ventures with Solaris and BYD respectively, while Tata Motors has raised its funds for E-Bus manufacturing internally.

While the EV revolution has been very slow to pick up in India as compared to other countries, it is picking up pace in terms of investments as well as in terms of volume penetration. These investments will be instrumental in not only fuelling innovation in this segment but will also play a pivotal role in helping EVs to scale up and tap the huge potential the Indian market has to offer.