Anyone who has spent even a few hours in Delhi will admit one thing without hesitation — the air feels heavy, polluted, and far from healthy. This isn’t a new revelation. Delhi’s air quality crisis has been part of the city’s reality for years, yet our response remains painfully slow. The city’s residents learn to tolerate smog-filled mornings and hazy evenings, and life moves on as if breathing toxic air is normal.
Most people tend to blame the infamous post-Diwali pollution spike or point to the annual stubble burning issue in neighboring states. While both undeniably contribute to severe air quality dips, the everyday condition of Delhi’s air tells an equally alarming story. Even on ordinary days, when there are no celebrations or seasonal agricultural burns, the Air Quality Index remains well above safe limits. Water tankers spraying roads and large panels displaying manipulated AQI readings do little to hide the reality: the city is struggling to breathe.
Among the many contributors to this crisis, vehicular emissions stand out as a constant, year-round problem. Delhi is a dense, fast-growing metropolis with a massive population and equally massive traffic. Long queues, idling engines, bumper-to-bumper traffic, and a culture that heavily favors personal vehicles collectively create a toxic soup of exhaust fumes. Yet, discussions around reducing vehicular emissions often meet resistance from the very people contributing to them.
The numbers paint a revealing picture. In 2025 alone, more than six lakh high-emission vehicles were sold in Delhi. Out of approximately seven lakh total vehicle sales, only about one lakh were electric — this includes both BEVs and battery-operated vehicles, like e-rickshaws. For a city suffering from one of the worst air quality conditions in the world, this adoption rate is far too low.
Surprisingly, many buyers defend their choice of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles even when presented with pollution data. The arguments range from convenience to habit to misinformation about electric vehicles (EVs). Meanwhile, the city’s air continues to deteriorate.
Hybrid vehicles often enter the conversation as a supposed middle ground, but recent studies challenge this belief. Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs), when used as intended, can significantly reduce emissions. However, their real-world usage shows a different pattern. Many owners simply don’t charge them frequently enough, turning them into regular fuel-guzzling vehicles for most of their operation. As a result, their emissions often mirror those of conventional ICE vehicles. Without making full use of the electric component, hybrids fail to deliver the environmental benefits they promise on paper.
Yet the blame game persists. People readily point fingers at farmers, policymakers, fireworks, construction sites, or anything that allows them to deflect personal responsibility. While all these factors do contribute to the problem, it doesn’t erase the impact of millions of vehicles pumping harmful emissions into the air every single day. Delhi’s pollution crisis is not the result of one stakeholder — it is the outcome of collective inaction.
If a household can afford to spend fifteen lakh rupees or more on a mid-segment ICE vehicle, it can certainly consider an electric alternative. Today’s EVs offer better efficiency, lower running costs, and a meaningful reduction in air pollution. The technology has evolved rapidly, with improved range, faster charging, and wider model availability. Multiple state incentives further reduce upfront costs. The barriers that existed five years ago no longer apply in the same way.
The urgency of this issue cannot be overstated. Delhi’s air quality has reached levels that directly impact public health — causing respiratory illnesses, reduced immunity, cardiovascular issues, and long-term developmental problems in children. The situation resembles the suffocating, smoke-filled scenarios of thriller movies where characters are trapped in enclosed garages. Except in Delhi, it’s not fiction. It’s the lived experience of millions.
This is not just an environmental problem; it is a public health emergency. And it demands action at every level — from government intervention to individual choices. While policy changes and enforcement matter, significant progress can only happen when citizens acknowledge their role in the crisis and embrace alternatives.
Choosing an EV is no longer a lifestyle statement — it is a responsibility. Delhi’s air won’t improve unless the people living in the city recognize that cleaner mobility is a necessity, not an option. The city is choking, and we have played a part in making it this way. The question now is: will we play a part in fixing it?
