India’s electric vehicle (EV) retail sales touched an all-time high of around 3.55 lakh units in October 2026, registering a year-on-year increase of 44.88 per cent, as EV penetration across the automobile market rose to approximately 11.5 per cent from around 6 per cent a year ago, according to data released by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) on Friday.
October also marked the best-ever month for electric two-wheelers, three-wheelers, passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles, FADA said in its October vehicle retail report released on November 6.
The growth came amid strengthening buyer interest in electric mobility, supported by elevated petrol and diesel prices, improved driving ranges and EV prices increasingly approaching parity with comparable internal combustion engine (ICE) models.
FADA President Sai Giridhar said demand for EVs ran ahead of supply during the month, with vehicle availability emerging as the constraint rather than buyer demand.
Three-wheelers continued to lead EV adoption, with electric models accounting for 62.63 per cent of total three-wheeler retail sales in October, compared with 52.19 per cent in the same month last year.
Electric two-wheelers accounted for 9.65 per cent of two-wheeler retail sales, up from 4.66 per cent a year earlier. In passenger vehicles, EV penetration increased to 7.30 per cent from 3.55 per cent, while the share of electric commercial vehicles rose to 4.29 per cent from 1.67 per cent.
FADA said the broader shift towards cleaner mobility remained evident despite the year-on-year decline in overall vehicle retail sales in October. Total vehicle registrations stood at 31,72,466 units, down 23.80 per cent from October 2025 but 25.05 per cent higher than September 2026.
The association attributed the annual decline largely to a calendar effect, as October 2025 included both Navratri and Diwali, while Diwali falls in November this year.
