Few know that electric vehicles (EVs) were invented 200 years ago and are as old as petrol-diesel ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles. Between the 1890s and 1910s, EVs competed with ICE for US market dominance as people preferred EVs for mobility inside cities. A century later, we have a redux in the US. However, the real EV revolution is happening thousands of miles away, in India, where local ‘jugaad‘ – tinkering – is leading up to some strange and interesting solutions. 

Multiple experiments are afoot in India: from rent-an-EV model for short mobility, EVs for short-duration public transport, electric cycles – even electric cycle rickshaws, and battery swapping and renting. Together they have not just pushed India to the top of the EV usage chart but will create EV solutions that will define the future and growth of the segment across the world.