India's electric mobility story has reached an inflection point. The conversation is no longer about early adoption or experimentation; it is about scale, acceptance and parity. EVs are being positioned—rightly so—as alternatives that are as capable, desirable and aspirational as internal combustion engine vehicles. And yet, one legacy decision continues to undermine this message: the green number plate.
When EVs first entered the Indian market, the government's intent to differentiate them was understandable. Clear visual identification helped with policy incentives, enforcement and signalling a cleaner choice. But that logic begins to fall apart when applied to personal mobility at scale. India has long had a simple, intuitive system for number plates—black text on white for private vehicles, yellow text on black for self-drive rentals, and black text on yellow for taxis and commercial transport. This framework worked because it classified vehicles based on usage, not technology.
Electric vehicles disrupted this clarity. Today, an EV—regardless of whether it is a privately owned BMW i7, an Ather scooter, or a Montra electric truck—gets lumped into a single visual category through the green number plate. The result is a blunt, one-size-fits-all marker that ignores context, purpose and price. In a country where appearances matter deeply and symbolism carries weight, this is a significant misstep.
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By overriding the established personal-versus-commercial distinction, the green plate unintentionally cheapens perception. A premium electric luxury car ends up wearing the same visual identifier as a last-mile delivery scooter. That may be administratively convenient, but from a consumer psychology standpoint, it is flawed. Buyers of high-end personal vehicles expect discretion, continuity and visual parity with what came before. Instead, they are forced into a new, highly visible category—one they did not ask to be ambassadors for.
This is where human behaviour comes into play. Many potential EV buyers are not resisting the technology itself; they are resisting what it represents socially. I know people who openly admit they struggle with the green number plate. Some feel it clashes with the design and makes their car look inexpensive. Others are uncomfortable broadcasting their choice to the world. They are buying an EV because it suits their needs, not because they want to make a statement or invite commentary. In a subtle way, the green plate turns a personal purchase into a public declaration.
This becomes even more contradictory when manufacturers themselves are pushing the message of equivalence. Companies like Mahindra are positioning their EVs as being every bit as capable, robust and desirable as their ICE counterparts. The pitch is simple: choose an EV not because it is different, but because it is just as good—if not better. But when policy insists on a visual marker that sets EVs apart, it undermines that narrative. You cannot ask consumers to compare products at par while simultaneously categorising them as fundamentally different.
The bigger question is this: if the goal is mass adoption, why continue to visually segregate EVs? We did not assign special number plates to fuel-injected cars, turbocharged engines or hybrids. Those technologies were absorbed seamlessly into the ecosystem. EVs need the same treatment if they are to become normal, unremarkable and widely accepted.
As India accelerates its push towards greener mobility, the green number plate needs to be rethought. Identification for incentives and regulation can easily exist within digital systems and registration databases. There is no compelling reason for personal EVs to abandon the familiar black-on-white format, or for commercial EVs to deviate from established commercial norms.
True progress will come not from branding EVs louder, but from making them invisible in the best possible way—integrated, accepted and judged on merit alone. If electric vehicles are to be the future of Indian mobility, they must stop looking like a separate experiment. Sometimes, going green does not require standing out. It requires fitting in.