Interactive Experience BEVScape: Accelerating BMW’s EV Adoption in India

India has a target to reduce emissions by 45% by 2030 and is actively pushing EV adoption with tax benefits and infrastructure development. 

Nevertheless, the growth in EV sales in India decelerated by 42% in 2024, indicating that policy alone will not suffice, and something isn’t adding up.

Despite strong government incentives and ambitious sustainability targets, a major obstacle to the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in India was consumer awareness. The concrete advantages of electric vehicles (EVs) over traditional automobiles were not well understood by many Indian consumers, and they frequently lacked knowledge of the tax benefits and other government incentives that were intended to facilitate this shift. Also, it was often a task for the sales team to explain to an Indian customer why driving an EV could be preferable to driving an ICE vehicle.

BMW has created a reputation for high-performance luxury cars, capturing 32% of India's luxury car market (Statista, 2024). But to continue as an innovation leader, BMW had to drive the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in the Indian market. 

However, several reasons held India back, wherein consumers' key concerns related to EV adoption remained unanswered, and for sales consultants, verbal assurance wasn’t enough, and showroom spaces held the potential to showcase EVs as seamless, immersive, and intuitive.

Hence, after realizing the concerns, BMW India collaborated with Ink In Caps (IIC) to develop BEVScape, a visionary interactive tool designed by our team to acknowledge the adoption of EVs by Indian consumers by fostering awareness, knowledge, and trust.

BEVScape emerged as a strategic bridge between BMW’s expanding EV portfolio and the practical concerns of Indian luxury buyers, transforming dealerships into decision-making hubs. By extending across multiple touchpoints, BEVScape ensured that BMW wasn’t just selling EVs; it was actively shaping India’s premium electric shift, aligning brand leadership with national sustainability goals at a critical moment in the country’s automotive evolution.

Our team had an incredible partnership with BMW on this project around September 2024, where our team’s journey began with getting a first-hand understanding of potential EV buyers. For an ultimate deep dive into the real-world experience, our team visited showrooms, acting as mystery consumers who are genuinely interested in purchasing an EV. This initial immersion helped us understand the critical shortcomings that are affecting the customer engagement process:

Our primary research revealed significant hurdles in building buyer confidence for Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) in India.

The first-hand insight from our primary research was that verbal assurances alone were insufficient from the sales team

Secondly, potential buyers lacked real-time experience to verify the improved charging infrastructure. Furthermore, showroom visits often overwhelmed customers with technical details, hindering information retention. 

A critical issue was also the difficulty potential buyers faced in distinguishing BEVs from Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) models in shared showrooms, leading to missed opportunities and suboptimal engagement.

From understanding BMW as a brand, to market research and competitor analysis, we found out some key concerns of every potential EV buyer, which are as follows:

• The Issues of Charging Infrastructure: Prospective buyers were full of apprehensions and uncertainties about the charging infrastructure in India. Uncertainty was struggled with the availability, reliability, speed of charging, and accessibility of charging points at highways, particularly for long drives. 

• Lack of Awareness about Government Incentives: Coupled with this challenge is the reality that although the Indian government provides incentives in the form of subsidies and tax relief to promote the use of electric vehicles, there is a huge shortage of awareness about these schemes among the general population. 

Despite government subsidies, tax incentives, and infrastructure growth, EV sales in India slowed by 42% in 2024 (FADA, 2024). This lack of awareness further adds to the reluctance to switch to EVs.

• The Financial Concerns: Potential buyers had financial hesitation because they didn’t have the clarity of buying an EV in comparison to a conventional car, running costs, and maintenance.

• Navigating an Unknown Technology: For many, buying an EV could represent a drastic technological shift. People aren’t familiar with the charging process, battery technology, and the overall ecosystem of EVs, which leads to uncertainty and a preference towards ICE vehicles, due to their known tech, features, and comfort.

• The Range Capabilities: There was fear about running out the battery power- range capabilities remained an eminent concern, particularly for buyers who are accustomed to the extensive refueling of traditional vehicles. Analyzing the real-world range capabilities and their suitability for diverse driving needs was crucial.

Launch of BEVScape at Auto Expo India 2025 

The launch of the BEVScape Pavilion at Auto Expo India 2025, under the leadership of BMW India's CEO, Mr. Vikram Pawah, created a huge initial buzz, and the BEVScape Pavilion drew significant attention from the visitors.

Deployed across 40+ Dealership Stores

Subsequently, BEVScape was rolled out strategically across more than 40+BMW dealerships across India's key cities. This extensive physical presence is expected to cater to the needs of about 150,000 prospective EV buyers every year, giving them direct access to detailed information and interactive features.

• Complex, heavy animations: It was challenging to optimize these for all platforms (particularly the micro-website).

• Recreation of micro-website animations: Existing animations could not be overlaid onto the micro-website, so a full rebuild from scratch was necessary.

• Short development cycle: The lengthy conceptualization process left only approximately a month for the completion of the entire platform.

• Micro-website phone view adjustments: Fiddling in Figma was required to make sure there was proper mobile responsiveness.

• Condensed tech team timeline: It is because of the long design process, the tech team only had about one weekend to complete the entire platform integration.