Electric two-wheeler sales surge over 5 times – Hero Electric, Okinawa corner half the market, Ather’s market share declines

• The much-awaited electric vehicles revolution seems to be here in India, and unsurprisingly, electric two-wheelers are leading by a huge margin.
  
• Even in the electric two-wheeler segment, buyers have shown that affordability, and not smart features, will drive the growth of the industry.
  
• While electric cars have piqued consumer interest, it is still a small segment, dominated by Tata Motors.
  

The much-awaited electric vehicle revolution has landed in India. After initial hiccups and uncertainties, Indians are buying electric vehicles like never before, evident from the sales numbers and multi-fold growth that electric two-wheeler companies have reported in the past year.

With petrol prices in India surging between 16-20% over the past year, the shift to electric vehicles has become a necessity for many instead of an experiment.

The biggest story is that the Indian electric two-wheeler (2W) market has expanded by over five times. However, it’s not just the electric 2W market that has seen a major surge – three-wheelers, commercial vehicles and passenger vehicles, which refers to cars, have all seen a major uptake in 2022.

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According to data from the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), electric vehicle sales have surged over three times in 2021-22, after seeing a decline in 2020-21, likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Electric two-wheelers will own the electric vehicle revolution in India

If it was not clear before, it is now – it is likely that India will ride the electric vehicle revolution on two-wheelers.

The electric 2W segment has emerged as the undisputed leader, both in terms of sheer numbers as well as growth. Electric 2W now contributes to over half of the entire electric vehicle sales in the country, beating the 3W segment by a big margin.

While electric car sales have also grown over three times, they still remain a niche segment, but that is due to electric cars being several times more expensive than electric bikes and scooters.

Hero Electric, Okinawa own half of the electric 2W market

India is a price-sensitive market, and that has been reiterated by the fact that consumers have rewarded affordability instead of smart features when it comes to electric bikes and scooters.

According to the sales data from FADA, two companies – Hero Electric, and Okinawa – have cornered half the market for themselves, leaving the rest for over a dozen two-wheeler makers to fight over.

However, their market shares have declined over the past year, owing to the increased competition and the entry of Ola Electric, which launched the Ola S1 and Ola S1 Pro last year.

Surprisingly enough, while Ather has been in this industry for several years now, its market share has declined in 2021-22.

The major contributor to this is likely the fact that while Hero Electric’s most expensive offering costs ₹80,000, the Ather 450X price is upwards of ₹1,50,000 (prices may vary based on your location, subsidies and taxes).

Ola, the latest major entrant in the industry, has managed to creep up to Ather, making it the latter’s closest rival.

Here’s the state of the electric two-wheeler segment in India:


Source: FADA | Data does not include Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, and Ladakh

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