New Delhi. There is no telling how much pollution is troubling people in Delhi. Experts believe that the biggest reason for this is the smoke coming out of vehicles. Electric vehicles have been manufactured to avoid vehicle pollution, but what is the reason that even today e-vehicles are lagging behind in the race compared to petrol and diesel vehicles. Despite all the incentives including subsidies from the government, the situation is that for every 10 petrol-diesel vehicles sold, one electric vehicle is sold.
Even though the number of electric vehicles is increasing, it is not for personal use. There is a surge in categories like three wheelers, goods vehicles, e-buses and e-rickshaws. Despite this, their penetration is much less as compared to petrol and diesel vehicles. If we look at the figures of think tank EnviroCatalysts through government vehicle data, about 2.7 lakh petrol two-wheelers were registered in Delhi from January to September 2024, while 26,613 electric two-wheelers were registered during this period. Similarly, if we look at the figures for the year 2025, the number of petrol two-wheelers was 3.2 lakh, while 27,028 electric two-wheelers were registered.
Demand for e-vehicles in commercial sector
There may not be demand for electric vehicles in the personal use sector, but its demand is continuously increasing in the commercial sector. The number of e-buses in Delhi has increased from 779 to 1,093, while the number of diesel buses has increased from 686 to 730. The number of electric three-wheeler vehicles carrying goods was registered at 11,331 this year, which was 8,379 last year. Even the number of CNG vehicles in this category saw a significant increase. However, data shows that 1,198 electric three-wheelers (mainly e-autos) were registered last year.
Dominance of petrol and diesel in four wheelers
Let’s talk about four-wheelers for personal use. The dominance of petrol based vehicles continues here. Although the number of private electric four-wheelers increased from 3,848 to 9,905, the share of EVs was much lower than petrol-based cars. Similarly, only 466 electric four-wheeler passenger vehicles were registered in 2025, compared to 1,748 in 2024.
Why are sales of e-cars not increasing?
Sunil Dahiya, founder and principal analyst at EnviroCatalysts, said the overall growth in the number of vehicles is still driven by petrol and CNG vehicles. This includes two-wheeler, four-wheeler car and goods vehicle categories. He said that to increase the sales of electric vehicles in Delhi, emphasis will have to be given on two things. First, we need to rapidly increase EV penetration through targeted policies and infrastructure. This will help in reducing the share of polluting vehicles, thereby reducing overall fuel consumption and emissions. Second, it will have to be used to strengthen public transport and non-motorized transport.
Spare parts are the biggest problem
When asked why no e-autos were registered till September, Ankit Sharma, president of Delhi Auto Drivers Association and an e-auto driver, said that the main problem is their spare parts like batteries and controllers. These parts are available only from company based manufacturers. Their price is more than Rs 1 lakh, which is very expensive for auto drivers. In contrast, CNG based autos are cheaper to maintain.
Why should one adopt EV?
Amit Bhatt, MD (India), International Council on Clean Transportation, said that it takes time to adopt any new technology. To control pollution in Delhi-NCR, we have to switch to zero emission transportation EVs. People may buy an EV for the green number plate or for the desire to use new technology. However, giving rebates to people buying EVs is not enough, as we need to learn from other countries to ensure large-scale adoption of EVs. There is a provision for original equipment manufacturers in China, London and California to sell a certain portion of their total sales as EVs and this could be 100% by 2035.
