EV charging and energy management company Kazam, in partnership with the Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE), on Wednesday, launched a Report titled “The Net-Zero Transition Starts at Home: Enabling EV-Ready Residences in India”, spotlighting residential charging infrastructure as one of the most critical and overlooked pillars of India’s electric mobility transition.

The Report was launched at India Habitat Centre in New Delhi in the presence of Shri Amal Sinha, Director, BSES, Shri Sameer Pandita, Director, Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE); Shri Irfan Ahmad, Chief Engineer, Central Electricity Authority (CEA); Shri Saurabh Kumar, Energy Transition Leader, Shri Satyendra Nath Kalita, Director (Regulatory Affairs), All India Discoms Association.

The Report’s insights are based on Kazam’s proprietary dataset of over 80,000 residential charger installations, compiled through technician field surveys and EV consumer interviews spanning 5000+ pin codes including in high EV adoption states like Assam, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.

Unlike global EV markets led primarily by passenger cars, India’s transition is being driven by light electric vehicles (LEVs), with two-wheelers and three-wheelers accounting for approximately 90%  of EV sales in 2025. These vehicles are predominantly charged overnight at home and are increasingly becoming the backbone of personal mobility, commercial transport, and last-mile services across India. Yet, nearly half of prospective EV buyers still lack access to formal residential charging infrastructure.

The Report offers one of the most detailed on-ground assessments of how EV adoption is altering household electricity demand across India, and it identifies three key barriers to scaling safe residential charging. First, a nightly “stress test” is straining residential grids as users plug-in their  EVs for 4-6 hour overnight charging cycles, placing sustained loads on systems not designed for long-duration EV charging. Second, recurring electrical  failures: overheating and melting of standard domestic sockets under sustained loads, voltage-fluctuation shutdowns, and widespread deficiencies in proper earthing; are creating significant safety and reliability risks. Third, structural barriers persist: with an estimated 70–75% of urban households living in apartments or multi-family buildings, many EV users face lack of dedicated parking, installation delays, and resistance from Resident Welfare Associations and landlords.

At the launch, Kazam and AEEE convened a multi-stakeholder roundtable featuring representatives from government, power utilities, EV ecosystem and real estate such as Lodha Group and RMZ Corp to discuss a proposed four-layer EV-Ready Residences Framework. Drawing on the Report’s findings, the framework defines residential EV readiness across five core dimensions: adequate sanctioned load, legal metering and dedicated charging circuits, continuous low-resistance earthing, appropriately rated wiring and safe installation practices; and consumer awareness and compliance. Insights from the roundtable helped shape recommendations for the development of a standardized four layer EV-Readiness Framework in consultation with the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) enabling homebuyers, residents, developers, and housing societies to assess a property's ability to support safe and reliable EV charging. 

To further support informed EV adoption, Kazam launched an EV-Readiness online quiz that enables prospective EV buyers to evaluate their home's preparedness for EV charging and book a detailed audit by a trained professional where required.

Akshay Shekhar, Co-founder & CEO, Kazam said, “Creating safe and EV-ready homes will be critical to sustaining long-term confidence in electric mobility and ensuring the benefits of EV transition are available to all. EV-readiness must become a core component of how residential projects are planned, approved, and built, not as an afterthought. From affordable housing to redevelopment projects, charging infrastructure should be embedded into building approvals and occupancy certificates as a fundamental requirement.

At the same time, schemes such as PM E-DRIVE and state EV policies can play a critical role in supporting residential electrical retrofits, particularly for low-income households and rental-heavy communities where dependence on electric two- and three-wheelers is the highest.”

The Report further notes that for India’s rapidly expanding gig workforce, projected to reach 23.5 million workers by 2030, access to home charging directly impacts earning potential. EV users dependent on public charging often lose productive work hours and may pay three to four times more per unit of electricity compared to residential charging, underscoring the importance of affordable and accessible charging at home.

Sumedh Agarwal, Director, Smart and Resilient Power and Mobility, Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE) said, “India has made significant progress on EV adoption being increasingly driven by people who use their vehicles to earn a living, but our residential infrastructure remains unprepared for the transition at scale. Charging access at home directly shapes the economics of vehicle ownership, particularly for delivery partners, commercial drivers, and small entrepreneurs who depend on their vehicles for daily earnings. EV-readiness must now be built into our buildings, electricity networks, and urban planning frameworks. The next phase of India's EV transition will be won or lost in our residences, and it must be safe, inclusive, and capable of delivering long-term economic and environmental benefits at scale."