India's capital part of aggressive electric vehicle targets in bid to curb air pollution

NEW DELHI (AP) — In an affluent neighborhood in Delhi, electric vehicle charging stations near a popular shopping area were busy with drivers powering up their scooters, trucks and cars.

India's capital city is in dire need of more charging facilities, EV drivers say, to implement an ambitious plan to phase out gas vehicles in one of the world’s most polluted cities.

“Charging facilities are not up to the mark yet,” said Shyam Singh, a marketing executive who owns a two-wheel electric scooter, adding that it is hard for long-distance drivers to switch to EVs because the current battery range is not enough.

Delhi adopted a new policy on July 1 that aims to make the vast majority of newly registered vehicles electric by 2027. While existing gas-powered vehicles won't be banned, their numbers are expected to dwindle in the coming years.

Energy experts say the plan is one of the country’s most ambitious electric-vehicle policies and a significant step toward improving the city's air quality and reducing pollution.

The policy provides EV buyers with subsidies and waivers on registration fees and some road taxes, incentives to scrap gas vehicles, and it offers plans to expand the charging infrastructure. It also targets two- and three-wheelers that make up nearly 70% of vehicles in the city: Starting in 2027, any newly registered three-wheeled vehicles and small trucks must be electric, with two-wheelers the following year.

Currently, only about 5% of the 8.7 million vehicles registered in Delhi are electric. But EV registrations have been increasing, with over 100,000 in the past year, most of them two- and three-wheelers. Registrations for new gas-powered cars and bigger trucks will still be allowed for the time being.

The plan, which is expected to cost the local government 150 billion rupees ($1.5 billion), will offer cash amounts of up to 50,000 rupees ($522) for residents who purchase EVs and up to 100,000 rupees ($1,044) for those who scrap their old gasoline-powered vehicles.

“Delhi’s EV policy is one of the most ambitious policies that I have seen in India,” said Jaideep Saraswat, who leads work on clean power and electric mobility at the Vasudha Foundation. The deadlines, he added, send a signal to automakers and consumers that change is “inevitable.”

While states including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Tamil Nadu have offered incentives for electric vehicle owners and manufacturers, cut taxes and pumped money into setting up charging stations, Delhi is the first to phase out gas-powered vehicles.

Severe air pollution in Delhi frequently forces school closures, construction bans and emergency public health measures, especially during the winter months. Vehicles cause about a quarter of air pollution in the National Capital Region surrounding Delhi, and two- and three-wheelers are responsible for nearly half of vehicular pollution in the city.

Ruchita Shah, an energy analyst for the global energy think tank Ember, said the city has long been a clean energy pioneer, including its earlier shift toward compressed natural gas vehicles to cut pollution. She said electric vehicles accounted for about 12.7% of Delhi’s new vehicle sales in the 2026 financial year, compared with 8.3% nationally.

The new policy’s most forward-looking feature, she said, is linking subsidies to tight deadlines after which some internal combustion engine vehicles can no longer be newly registered.

Sunil Dahiya, founder of environmental research organization Envirocatalyst, said cleaner vehicles could significantly reduce public exposure to roadside emissions. Still, he cautioned that the benefits will take time to fully materialize because existing gasoline, diesel, and CNG vehicles will continue to operate for years.

Some owners of gasoline-powered two-wheelers say this isn't the right time to go electric.

Siddhant Jha, a 22-year-old software engineer and northern Delhi resident, is worried about the longevity of EVs compared with his traditional two-wheeler, and the annual street flooding damaging a vehicle’s electrical components.

“I'd like to wait for a few years for better models and the 150,000 rupees ($1,566) I'll spend (on an EV) will make more sense then.”

Jha is also concerned about EV charging accessibility.

Shah, the energy analyst, said the policy’s success hinges on Delhi building sufficient charging infrastructure and sourcing more supplied power from renewable resources rather than fossil fuel plants. Most vehicle charging now happens at night, when solar power is unavailable, forcing the dependence on thermal power plants to meet demand.

Delhi must also upgrade its electricity grid — especially fast chargers needed by buses, cargo vehicles and cars — to meet the surge in demand and avoid grid failures, said Dahiya, the environmentalist.

Dahiya recommended installing battery storage at charging stations and adopting time-of-day pricing to incentivize charging when renewable power is more abundant.

Delhi's next challenges will be coordinating with surrounding states to decarbonize the electricity grid and public transport electrification, said Saraswat of the Vasudha Foundation.

“As a resident of Delhi, I’m sure each and every one will be extremely thrilled to have this policy. To see that winter where there is no smog, no pollution.”

Arasu reported from Bengaluru, India, and can be followed on X at @sibi123. Reach him at sarasu@ap.org.

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

A person charges his electric scooter at a roadside charging station in New Delhi, India, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

An electric vehicle maneuvers down a road in New Delhi, India, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Electric buses move through dense traffic alongside other vehicles and scooters in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Two wheelers drive past an electric vehicle parked along a street in New Delhi, India, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

A person swaps their electric scooter battery at a battery-swapping station for electric vehicles in New Delhi, India, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Delivery workers and drivers arrive at a battery-swapping station for electric vehicles in New Delhi, India, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

LEGE-CAP FERRET, France (AP) — Higher humidity, cooler temperatures and a forecast for rain raised hopes of relief Thursday for a parched portion of southwestern France engulfed by wildfires that have charred an area four times the size of Paris in recent weeks.

With moisture moving in from the Atlantic coast, national weather service Meteo France forecast light rain in the town of Lege-Cap Ferret, on a peninsula that's been a leading edge of the devastated region.

Local officials reported a “rather calm" night, with a fire that has not grown beyond the 42,000 hectares (about 162 sq. miles) already affected. Fire crews remained at “total mobilization” with 2,200 firefighters and over 20 aircraft.

Rain fell early Thursday in the city of Bordeaux to the east. But there were no early signs of enough rainfall in the hardest-hit areas that could douse the flames or dampen the sandy ground and brushy undergrowth of pine forests that have fueled the inferno.

Sophie Brocas, the prefect for the Gironde region, expressed some optimism that lower temperatures could help.

“If that's confirmed, we could foresee a return to a more normal life for residents, but also for businesses that need to work,” she told reporters late Wednesday.

Humidity reached 80% overnight but was expected to drop by midday, authorities said. Some rainfall was expected along the coast that “could reach the fire zone,” Gironde officials said in a morning note.

Temperatures that peaked around 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) a day earlier were set to drop Thursday, topping out at 27 C (80 F) along the coast. An “orange” heat wave alert — the second-highest level after “red” — was lifted shortly before dawn.

The fires in the Bordeaux wine-growing, forested and tourism-heavy region are among the blazes that have swept across pockets of southern Europe in recent weeks, including Spain and Greece.

On Thursday, firefighters were tackling multiple forest fires in four of Turkey’s western provinces, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

Blazes in touristic Mugla and Antalya and elsewhere raged overnight as hot weather and strong winds gripped the region. Residents were evacuated as teams with firefighting planes and helicopters battled the fires.

A day earlier, authorities in neighboring Greece said three firefighters had died on the island on Crete, as the wildfire emergency stretched from the Atlantic coast to the eastern Mediterranean.

At the peak of the evacuations, a third of a million people were driven from homes and vacation sites in France and Spain.

Flames burn an olive tree during a wildfire in the Rethymno region on the southern Greek island of Crete, Wednesday, July 29, 2026, where two firefighters died while battling the blaze. (AP Photo/Giannis Angelakis)

Embers smolder inside an olive tree during a wildfire in the Rethymno region on the southern Greek island of Crete, Wednesday, July 29, 2026, where two firefighters died while battling the blaze. (AP Photo/Giannis Angelakis)

A fire burns in the forest near Blagon, during wildfires in southwestern France, Wednesday, July 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)

A firefighter lays on the ground after working to extinguish a fire in the forest near Blagon, during wildfires in southwestern France, Wednesday, July 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)

A smoke cloud rises as firefighters work to extinguish a fire in the forest near Blagon, during wildfires in southwestern France, Wednesday, July 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)