New Delhi, April 3 -- German carmaker BMW recorded a threefold on-year growth in electric vehicle sales in India in the first three months of this year, contradicting the auto industry's widespread scepticism about the speed of adoption of electric cars.

For BMW, the second-largest premium car seller in India, its total EV sales of 646 cars from January to March accounted for 17% of its overall sales of 3,914 cars in the country. Its overall sales improved 7% from the same year-ago period.

"Many players had set some unrealistic expectations regarding transition to EVs in a short period, which is why there is some disappointment about the pace of adoption," Vikram Pawah, president and chief executive, BMW Group India, said in an intervie...