visakhapatnam the adoption of electric vehicles seems to be off to a slow start in andhra pradesh of the nearly 16 crore registered vehicles roaming on the roads the number of evs has been limited to some 54000 in the state even though the demand for these emissionfree vehicles is catching on in recent years the numbers speak altogether a different storyfor instance against the 78000 fourwheeler registrations in 2022 in andhra pradesh only 681 electric vehicles found takers in the state similarly the number of twowheeler evs sold in 2022 stood at 26824 against over 6 lakh petrol twowheeler registrations as per the union government datawhile the proportion of fourwheelers evs to total vehicles stood at 09 the penetration of twowheeler evs was somewhat better at 44 in 2022 in andhra pradesh according to industry insiders and experts the sales numbers of evs may witness a surge in the coming years however the limited charging infrastructure most citiestowns still do not have charging stations recent ev batteryrelated explosions in various parts of the state the high upfront cost compared to conventional vehicles and doubts over the range distance one can travel with a single charge seem to be discouraging the prospective buyers to make the switchspeaking to toi j gopinath who has been involved in ev sales for the last few years said the ev sales have been increasing over the years however the number of people opting for evs is far low compared to fossilfuelled vehicles we get several inquiries every day but only a few transition into sales the concerns and myths surrounding the evs may be still hampering the switch from regular vehicles to evs amid the everincreasing fuel prices these emissionfree vehicles will prove to be highly economical in the long run due to their low operating costs said gopinath when toi spoke to several people they said they will wait a few more years to buy evsbased on my enquiries the charging infrastructure and afterservicing still seem to be in nascent stage even in cities like vizag i can travel any distance on a full tank with my petrol car same is not possible with evs people like me only consider buying an ev once everything falls in place said b ravi teja who recently purchased a petrol car