Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL), which has been delaying the launch of its first electric vehicle (EV), has decided to launch its first EV – WagonR in 2024 and will increase the product portfolio from 2026.

The company had announced EV plans in 2018 and said an electric vehicle will be launched by 2020. But, in 2019, MSIL said the launch was delayed beyond 2020 due to lack of charging infrastructure and cost of batteries.

With other companies such as Tata Motors and Hyundai Motor planning line-ups till 2026 and 2028 respectively, MSIL will also leverage the opportunity as charging infrastructure and customer acceptance will increase by then, sources close to the development told BusinessLine .

The company is also investing a lot in battery technology and has partnered with companies like Toshiba and Denso, to not only manufacture batteries for its future cars, but also supply to other original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

When asked, an MSIL spokesperson did not specify a timeline but said, “We have announced that we will be launching an EV by 2025. For this prototype, development and testing is going on as per schedule. Meanwhile, India’s first lithium ion cell manufacturing plant with an investment of ₹1,200 crore has already been commissioned by Suzuki joint venture with Toshiba and Denso in Gujarat. Trial production is going on.”

The company’s main concern is pricing of mass EVs and it has, on many occasions, said that making an EV at around ₹10-12 lakh was not feasible.

According to analysts, it will be a good time for the company to launch a mass market EV, as by then more charging infrastructure will be in place, also helping EV users in inter-city drives.

A New Delhi-based analyst said: “Their (Maruti) real strategy is to delay the launch by a few years so that they can enjoy the sales of CNG vehicles. For MSIL, profitability is the main concern and for EV also, they have the same strategy. By the time they get the EV into the market, the infrastructure will be readily available in most of the cities across India.”

According to industry reports, there are about 2,900 public EV charging infrastructure as of September This is expected to go up to 79,000 charging stations by 2025. Also, electric car sales are expected to go up to 1.75 lakh units by 2028 from around 6,000 units last year (growing at aCAGR of 53 per cent).

Tata Motors’ Tigor EV and Nexon EV – priced between ₹12 lakh and ₹15 lakh – are some successful models in the last one year and leaders in the market.

Recently, Hyundai Motor India announced it will launch mass EVs in the similar price bracket. MG Motor India also announced on Thursday that it will launch an electric vehicle in the price range of ₹10-15 lakh by next fiscal.