Real-world driving range, charging infrastructure and uncertainty around resale value are three major roadblocks for higher EV adoption.
15 Dec 2025 | 1407 Views | By Kiran Murali and Ketan Thakkar
Maruti Suzuki is preparing to launch its first battery electric vehicle – eVitara – in India, where the adoption of EVs is yet gain significant momentum. The automaker believes that people’s interest in EVs is growing, but the market is still held back by three major issues - real-world driving ...
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Maruti Suzuki is preparing to launch its first battery electric vehicle – eVitara – in India, where the adoption of EVs is yet gain significant momentum. The automaker believes that people’s interest in EVs is growing, but the market is still held back by three major issues - real-world driving range, charging infrastructure, and uncertainty around resale value.
Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer for marketing and sales at Maruti Suzuki, believes that early EV experiences in India have had some negative impact on consumer confidence. “There have been concerns that the range that is being promised is not delivered. This creates a huge problem when consumers are making travel plans. That is one of the big concerns. Many customers believe that the electric vehicles’ range is not in line with the announced range,” he said.
Maruti Suzuki claims that the eVitara, offered with 49 kWh and 61 kWh battery options and an ARAI-certified range of up to 543 km, is capable of delivering over 500 km on a single charge in real-world conditions. The company said it has focused on demonstrating usable range rather than making optimistic claims. Banerjee noted that the vehicle has been extensively driven by independent users, not just tested internally.
Charing Infra
The second bigger challenge for EV adoption is the lack of widespread charging infrastructure. While most of the major automakers in India have rolled out their fully electric vehicles, limited charging infrastructure is seen as another biggest barriers to faster adoption of EVs in the country. India currently has fewer than 30,000 public charging stations, a number widely seen as inadequate for mass EV adoption.
Banerjee said most EV buyers today use their cars as secondary vehicles, largely because they do not trust the availability of public chargers for longer or unplanned journeys. “Today, since the public infrastructure is not there, consumers do not want to take a chance. So, if they are going to buy their first vehicle, it happens to be an ICE vehicle, for EV,” he said. “If a customer believes the vehicle is good but not the ecosystem, he will still not buy it.”
Maruti Suzuki is attempting to break this by setting up charging stations ahead of demand. The company has partnered with 13 charge-point operators and has already installed around 2,000 exclusive charging points across more than 1,100 cities. Its plan is to scale this to over one lakh charging points by the end of the decade, with a particular focus on highways and expressways. In key corridors across the top 100 cities, the company is working towards an average spacing of one charger every 5–10 km.
To simplify access to its charging infra, Maruti Suzuki has integrated multiple charging networks into a single digital platform, allowing users to locate, access and pay for charging through one app.
The government and the industry have also been pushing for higher charger-to-vehicle density, advocating that it is critical to encourage more consumers to transition to electric vehicles by alleviating range anxiety. Other OEMs, including Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Hyundai, are also setting up electric vehicle charging stations across the country to gain consumer confidence.
Resale value, after-sales support
The third biggest concern is resale value and after-sales support. Unlike internal combustion engine cars, where resale values are broadly predictable, electric vehicle buyers remain uncertain about what their cars will be worth after a few years, largely due to concerns over battery degradation. The battery accounts for roughly 40% of an EV’s cost, and Banerjee said this lack of clarity on long-term value has made many consumers hesitant to commit to electric cars.
Although EVs inherently require less servicing than their ICE vehicles, Banerjee feels that OEMs need to establish robust workshop networks capable of swiftly addressing any unexpected technical issues. The reliable availability of these specialized EV services is essential for building consumer confidence.
To address these concerns, Maruti Suzuki will launch an assured buyback program for its electric vehicles, a move the company believes will significantly alleviate consumer worries about resale value. The company has also readied around 1,500 EV-enabled workshops across 1,100 cities, covering not just major urban centres but also surrounding regions within a 250-km radius. The network, Banerjee said, will continue to expand as EV volumes rise.
Production of the eVitara began in August at the company’s Gujarat plant. Initially, the vehicle is being sold in the UK and is slated for export to Japan in January. While the company has not disclosed the exact timeline for India launch, Banerjee said Maruti Suzuki will start dispatching some units to dealerships in December, making the vehicle available to consumers for test drives. ENDS