Maruti Suzuki eyes EV leadership as it begins its India push with charging infra

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd aims to lead the electric vehicle (EV) race by establishing 100,000 charging points and 1,500 service workshops across the country, backed by a 150,000-strong trained workforce, by 2030.

Managing director and chief executive Hisashi Takeuchi said on Tuesday that the country’s largest carmaker has set up more than 2,000 exclusive charging points across 1,100 cities as part of its two-pronged strategy to alleviate range anxiety among consumers when it begins selling its battery EV.

The announcement came at the launch of eVitara, an electric sports utility vehicle (SUV), in the domestic market.

Being the last among all the top carmakers to launch a battery EV, Takeuchi said the company has invested ₹250 crore to build charging points, as well as an application for consumers, to provide a good ownership experience for EVs.

“Even if it takes time, we invest in thorough testing, validation and fine-tuning so that only the best products and services reach our charging infrastructure across the country,” he said on Tuesday in New Delhi.

The EV race

The carmaker's main rivals, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd, Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd and Hyundai Motor India Ltd, have all launched their respective EVs with a target of rapidly expanding the penetration of such cars in their portfolio.

Maruti Suzuki is targeting 15% of its overall sales by 2030-31 from EVs, according to its 2024-25 annual report.

“We are adopting a two-pronged strategy. First, by offering a vehicle with excellent driving range and second, by building a strong EV ecosystem that ensures convenience and peace of mind for our customers,” Takeuchi said.

The company revealed that it has received an official range certificate of 543 kilometres from the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI).

The automaker's leadership has repeatedly highlighted in the past that range anxiety and the lack of EV infrastructure are the biggest impediments to increasing the penetration of EVs in the country.

The late entrant

In August, Maruti Suzuki began exporting its EV to over 100 countries, with 10,000 units already shipped, but it has yet to start selling it in India, leading many to question whether the company is late to the market with its clean-fuel vehicle.

eVitara, an electric SUV inspired by the company's flagship mid-size SUV Grand Vitara, will open for bookings soon, according to Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer-marketing and sales at Maruti Suzuki.

Takeuchi mentioned that in the years ahead, Maruti will launch EVs across all body types and sizes.

One of the problems the company has identified is the lack of a trained workforce to service EVs in the country.

“We understand the requirement for skilled manpower who understands this new technology and can also help customers with charging support. For this, we have trained our manpower across our sales and service network,” Takeuchi said in his address.

The introduction of EVs has become crucial for all carmakers in the country as the government is preparing to introduce the third iteration of corporate average fuel efficiency norms (CAFE-III) soon, to be implemented from April 2027.

As of now, Tata Motors leads the EV sector, followed by JSW MG Motor India, Mahindra and Mahindra, Hyundai Motor India, and BYD.