Delhi will cease registering new petrol and diesel auto-rickshaws from 1 January 2027, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta confirmed, making the Indian capital the first major South Asian city to impose a hard phase-out date for a specific vehicle category. The measure forms part of a Rs 15,000 crore ($1.8 billion) electric-vehicle policy that also mandates only electric two-wheelers be registered from April 2028. The government aims to lift the share of EVs in new registrations above 30% by 2030, backed by purchase subsidies, scrappage incentives, and a plan to more than triple public charging points from 9,000 to 32,000.

Viewed from New Delhi, the mandate signals a regulatory pivot toward compulsion after years of incentive-led adoption. Yet the same federal landscape reveals deep consumer friction with another pillar of India’s energy transition. A LocalCircles survey of 22,567 petrol-vehicle owners found that 53% described the government’s rollout of E20 fuel—petrol blended with 20% ethanol, made mandatory nationwide in April 2025—as “disastrous” or “ineffective”. Two-thirds reported a mileage drop exceeding 10%, far above the 1–6% reduction estimated by the state-backed Automotive Research Association of India. The government has dismissed much of the criticism as a “make-believe narrative” and will review higher ethanol blends only after an inter-ministerial committee reports.

Across Latin America, the electrification push is being shaped less by fuel mandates than by infrastructure and industrial policy. Bogotá’s first metro line, 77.5% complete, will run entirely on electric trains supplied by China’s CRRC; three more six-car units arrive this month, with initial no-passenger tests on the viaduct due in June 2026. Yet the Colombian capital has fewer than 300 public charging stations for more than 8,000 registered electric vehicles, a gap that mirrors the uneven build-out seen in Brazilian cities. Campinas, the leading interior market, registered 2,234 electrified vehicles in the first five months of 2026—a 33.7% year-on-year rise—while Ribeirão Preto saw sales double, driven by improved battery reliability and consumer confidence.

In Southeast Asia, policy uncertainty is stalling momentum. Indonesia has repeatedly postponed EV purchase incentives, originally slated for June, then July, and now possibly August, prompting an industry executive to urge consumers “not to hope too much.” The Ministry of Industry has publicly called for certainty, warning that the delay is suppressing purchasing decisions. The next concrete milestone to watch is the start of on-viaduct testing for Bogotá’s metro, while Delhi’s auto-rickshaw registration deadline will test whether a hard mandate can accelerate adoption where incentives alone have faltered.