Alternative Fuel Vehicles Surpass Petrol in Passenger Car Segment

UPDATE - follow-up to How much of India's shift to 'alternative fuels' is electric vehicles?: August 2026 marked a historic fuel crossover in India, as alternative fuel vehicles overtook petrol cars in the passenger vehicles category for the first time. Data from the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations shows that alternative fuels reached 41.95% of new vehicle share, beating petrol vehicles at 40.85%. This category groups CNG, hybrid, and electric vehicles together.

Sub-Category Trends

A deeper look at the data shows that this shift is driven more by two-wheelers and three-wheelers than cars. Two-wheeler EV adoption grew from 6.4% in 2025 to 9.1% in 2026 up to August, dropping petrol two-wheelers down to the 90% mark. Three-wheelers showed the fastest transition, with EVs making up 60.5% of the roughly 9.8 lakh three-wheelers registered by August 2026. Petrol and diesel three-wheelers dropped from nearly 30% in 2021 to under 15% in 2026.

Car Segment Reality

In the car segment, the shift away from petrol and diesel is real, falling from 86% in 2021 to 61.6% in 2026. However, this drop is mainly due to CNG, LPG, and hybrid vehicles rather than pure electric vehicles. Hybrid EV shares have stayed near eight percent since 2023, showing that pure EV adoption in cars needs better charging infrastructure to speed up.