CHENNAI: Electric scooters are gradually becoming a common sight on Indian roads. In November, 6%-7% of scooter sales are estimated to have been electric. The surge has prompted large ICE (internal combustion engine) two-wheeler players to look at this segment even as electrics make inroads into tier-2 and -3 cities via no-frills dealerships that cost a fraction of ICE showrooms.
Electric two-wheelers will comprise 8%-10% of the market (scooters and motorcycles) by 2025 at 1.5-1.8 million units, according to Rohan Kanwar Gupta, VP and sector head at ratings agency ICRA.
“A higher percentage of the electric two-wheelers will be scooters — already 6-7% of scooter sales in November were electric,” he said. November, however, was not a one-off month. Greaves Cotton-owned e-scooter maker Ampere, has 4-week waitlist on its flagship model Magnus. “December is turning out to be better than October due to strong demand on two-wheeler side,” said Nagesh Basavanhalli, group CEO & MD, Greaves Cotton.
“We have seen accelerated growth of electric two-wheelers in 2021, with more than 70% sales coming in the last five months of the year. Going by the recent trends, the next 12 months may see 5-6 times growth,” said Sohinder Gill, director-general, Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV).
The EV (electric vehicle) pick-up comes even as scooters themselves have seen some growth this year. “Scooter sales have grown 8.9% in April-November this year. In November, the numbers were over 3 lakh units compared to 21,400 units of electric sales,” said Ravi Bhatia, president, JATO Dynamics. EV’s scooter share is much higher than its share of total two-wheelers, which is about 1.5%, added Bhatia.
