TERI Study Highlights Need For Multiple Fuels In India

India's clean-mobility push has mostly been framed as an EV-versus-everything-else question. A new study from The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) pushes back on that framing directly: after comparing five fuels across six vehicle categories, it concludes that no single fuel or propulsion technology performs best everywhere, and the right choice changes depending on the vehicle, the route and the economics involved.

TERI Study Says No Single Fuel Works For India's Auto Transition

The study, commissioned by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board and titled Comparative Assessment of Vehicular Fuels in India's Energy Transition, examined petrol, diesel, CNG, electricity and LNG across two-wheelers, three-wheelers, private and commercial four-wheelers, LCVs and heavy-duty vehicles. It's built on a survey of 2,315 vehicle owners and drivers across ten locations, weighing five factors — economics (given the highest weight at 31.49%), environmental impact, technical feasibility, social considerations and geopolitical risk — rather than judging fuels on tailpipe emissions alone.

Where CNG Still Wins Over EVs

For private passenger cars and several light commercial vehicle applications, TERI found CNG currently offers the better mix of ownership cost, environmental performance and infrastructure readiness — helped by India's 9,096 CNG stations as of July 2026 and a passenger vehicle retail share that climbed to 21.98% in FY26 from 19.60% the year before. Electric cars, by contrast, are still held back by purchase price, financing and charging access in low-utilisation private use, though TERI expects that gap to narrow as infrastructure and battery costs improve. For buses too, the study places CNG as a strong near-term option alongside electric, rather than treating one as an automatic replacement for the other.

Why EVs Make More Sense For Two And Three-Wheelers

The picture flips for smaller vehicles. TERI found electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers already have favourable total ownership costs, largely because lower running and maintenance expenses pay back the higher upfront price quickly in high-utilisation use — daily cargo and delivery runs being a clear example. Two-wheelers are flagged as an EV-led segment over the long run, while three-wheelers are expected to see CNG and electric coexist for now, with electrification gaining ground as charging infrastructure matures.

Heavy Trucks Face A Different Weight Problem

Heavy-duty freight is where the trade-offs get more mechanical than financial. TERI's own comparison of 55-tonne heavy trucks found a battery-electric truck carries an unladen weight of roughly 8.8 tonnes, against about 7.1 tonnes for an equivalent LNG-powered truck — a 1.7-tonne difference that comes straight out of usable payload at the same gross vehicle weight. That's a real commercial cost for any operator running near capacity. The study consequently sees CNG continuing to serve regional freight, LNG as a workable option for select long-haul routes, and battery-electric heavy trucks remaining more application-specific for now — not commercially unviable, just better suited to particular routes and duty cycles than others.

What This Means For Fleet And Vehicle Buyers

The study also points to a supporting piece of the puzzle: blending 20% carbon-negative compressed biogas into CNG could make the resulting fuel carbon-neutral on a life-cycle basis, which matters given the government's ₹23,731-crore GOBARdhan scheme announced in August 2026 to scale up domestic CBG production. For fleet buyers, the takeaway is less about picking a winning fuel and more about matching the choice to the actual route — a depot-based city delivery LCV and a long-haul 55-tonne hauler simply don't have the same optimal answer. Anyone weighing options across fuel types can use the truck comparison tool to line up specific models, and run total ownership numbers through the EMI calculator before deciding which pathway actually pencils out for their routes.

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Frequently Asked Questions on Commercial Vehicles

Q1. What does the TERI study conclude about India's fuel transition?

Ans. TERI's study finds that no single fuel or propulsion technology performs best across all vehicle categories, and the optimal choice depends on ownership costs, environmental impact, infrastructure and vehicle usage patterns.

Q2. Which fuel does the study favour for passenger cars and LCVs?

Ans. CNG currently offers the strongest combination of ownership cost, environmental performance and infrastructure readiness for private passenger cars and several light commercial vehicle applications, according to the study.

Q3. Why does the study favour EVs for two-wheelers and three-wheelers?

Ans. Electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers already show favourable total ownership costs because lower energy and maintenance expenses offset higher upfront prices quickly, especially in high-utilisation applications like delivery and cargo work.

Q4. Why do heavy electric trucks face challenges compared to LNG trucks?

Ans. In TERI's comparison of 55-tonne heavy trucks, an electric truck's unladen weight was around 8.8 tonnes versus roughly 7.1 tonnes for an LNG truck, meaning the electric truck carries about 1.7 tonnes less usable payload at the same gross vehicle weight.

Q5. What role could compressed biogas (CBG) play in this transition?

Ans. TERI's assessment found that blending 20% carbon-negative CBG into CNG could make the resulting fuel carbon-neutral on a life-cycle basis, supporting the government's push to scale up domestic CBG production under the GOBARdhan scheme.