EV resale boost? Maharashtra gives commands for battery health for buyers | Mint

The Maharashtra government has announced a policy that announces digital “battery pas” for all new electric vehicles (EVs), a first for the country, to combat the hesitation of the consumer over resale value and lifespan of batteries. As part of the state’s EV policy released recently, the digital batterypaspoort will be used to detect the health, use and manufacturing details of an EV battery, a critical component that accounts for more than half of an EV’s value. “The state must introduce a digital batteries passport to detect key parameters such as manufacturing details, real-time health status, use history and diagnostics of the end of life,” Maharashtra’s EV policy notified on May 23. Currently, customers must rely on the seller to know the real health of the battery. Based on previous pilots of such a passport in Europe, customers can scan the batteries through a QR code to know the health and appropriate manufacturing details of the battery installed in their purchased vehicle. While the Maharashtra government has introduced the battery cash gate in its policy, the details of how they will be issued and what role businesses will play to reach them out. Maharashtra is surely the second largest market for electric vehicles in the country, with 241.941 EVs sold in 2024. Uttar Pradesh led the EV market, with 369.102 EVs sold during the year. Deloitte’s 2025 Global Automotive Consumer Study said at least one in five car buyers uncertain resale value flag as one of the reasons why EV purchase is holding back. The health of the battery becomes important as it is responsible for the depreciation in the value of an EV. Sellers and insurers also complain that the lack of a standard document to know the health of batteries makes things uncertain about the pricing of a vehicle. Data from used car market players Spinny and Cars24 showed that EVs lose value faster than the traditional vehicles for internal combustion engines (ICE). Cars24 noted that three to five-year-old popular ice motho models can retain more than 50% of their original value, as opposed to EVs. Spinny data suggested that EVS rescue value on average delay the resale value of ice vehicles by 3%. This means that the price of a 2023 EV model would have fallen by 23% if sold today, compared to a 20% depreciation for a similar specification ICE vehicle. The gap can increase to as high as 6% the older the model gets. “A digital battery pasp gate brings transparency to the EV market, giving consumers clear information about the health and history of their vehicle’s battery,” said Nikhil Dhaka, policy leader at Primus Partner. Dhaka noted that pilot projects in Europe have shown that a batterypassport can provide a digital ID for each battery, which can share details about its performance and manufacturing history. The presence of a standard document issued by an authority can help consumers trust the resale value, as the exact status of the battery installed in the vehicle would then be known. “For resellers, a battery pasp gate provides objective data that builds up confidence and justify pricing in the EV market used. It reduces disputes and makes the valuation process more transparent,” Dhaka added. The country’s EV insurance industry also expects the introduction of digital battery states to help them standardize the process, which will be the most important to determine premiums for such insurance policies. The country’s EV insurance market is expected to reach $ 8.61 billion against the financial year 2032 of $ 1.02 billion in 2024. Sandeep Dadia, CEO of the country, built. “This transparency reduces uncertainties, which ensure fair premiums for customers, while increasing confidence among insurers, OEMs, traders and end users,” he added. The introduction of such a document also comes at a time that total electrical sales in the country grow rapidly. In 2024, Electric two-wheeled, three-man and four-wheel sales in the country grew 27% to 1.94 million units. Worldwide, the use of digital battery pants remains limited from now on. In 2023, however, the European Union introduced regulations that require all EV batteries of more than 2 kWh to have the document from 1 February 2027.