India’s electric car penetration rising, hits 7% in May 

The penetration of electric vehicles in India’s passenger vehicle sales rose as much as 7% in May for the first time as car buyers chose EVs amid higher fuel prices. 

Electric vehicles accounted for 6.6% of India’s new car sales in May, up from 6.1% in April, according to data released by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA). EV penetration in cars stood at 4.5% in May 2025. 

The fuel-price revision accelerated the shift to electric vehicles. In two-wheelers, the share of EVs climbed to record 9.25% in May from 6.11% a year ago. 

“A notable feature of the month was the consumer response to the May fuel-price revision: dealers reported a visible rise in enquiries for fuel-efficient and alternative-powertrain options,” said FADA President C S Vigneshwar. 

In three-wheelers, EV penetration hit a high of 64.4% in May, up from 59.17% in April. In commercial vehicles, electric vehicle penetration stood at 2.8%. 

Overall, the EV penetration across segments crossed 11% for the first time. 

In May, India’s passenger vehicle registrations rose 23.25% year-on-year to 4,02,591 units. Rural PV volumes grew 30.35% YoY against the urban PV volumes at 18.80%. “Dealers pointed to a small-car revival co-existing with a sustained SUV mix, healthy booking pipelines and refreshed product launches, alongside a richer alternative-powertrain mix in which CNG share rose to 23.34% and EV share improved to 6.63%,” Vigneshwar said. 

On the channel side, PV inventory edged up to a range of 31–33 days at May-end from 28–30 days at the close of April. “Inventory is now moving away from FADA’s recommended 21-day benchmark, and we urge PV OEMs to maintain disciplined dispatches through the seasonally softer June window so that channel stocks stay closely aligned with retail demand,” Vigneshwar added.