Despite a very challenging calendar year 2020, Hero Electric, has maintained its position at the top of the electric two-wheeler market.

• Hero Electric tops electric two-wheeler sales chart.

• The company sold 8,111 of the 25,735 electric scooters sold in CY2020.

Interestingly, the sales of “high-speed” (e-scooters that can cross 25kph) electric two-wheelers in the January to December 2020 period was 25,735 units (-5.4 percent year-on-year) as against 27,224 units sold in the previous calendar year, according to data compiled by the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV).

Our sister publication, Autocar Professional, analysed the sales data of 16 high-speed electric two-wheeler manufacturers for the year 2020. Despite a total washout in Q1 for the overall auto industry, Hero Electric continued to retain its leadership position in CY2020, with sales of 8,111 units (-28.17 percent YoY), followed by Okinawa Autotech with 5,564 units (-50.46 percent YoY) and Ampere Electric at 4,422 units (269 percent YoY). The top three electric two-wheeler makers have a combined market share of around 71 percent.

Table source: Autocar Professional

What has helped the market leader, Hero Electric, is the brand’s push to establish a strong network, partnerships, and B2B clients, which have allowed it to reap the benefits of being the early mover in the electric two-wheeler industry. The company also has a large 1,00,000 unit-per-annum capacity plant in Ludhiana. 

One of the youngest players in the e-two-wheeler industry is Bengaluru-based Ather Energy. The start-up reportedly sold around 2,972 e-scooters, compared to around 2,290 units in CY2019. The company currently sells only one model, the Ather 450X, in the domestic market and is seeing increasing demand, even as it goes about expanding its retail network in the country.

In terms of average sales for the 16 OEMs, November and December 2020 saw sales of high-speed electric two-wheelers clock 226 units and 293 units, respectively. On the other hand, the top four OEMs reportedly had average sales of 698 units and 874 units, respectively.

One of the crucial challenges for the overall electric vehicle industry in the country has been to meet the stringent norms under the FAME II scheme to be eligible for subsidiaries. This includes phase-wise localisation of key parts, which has been a matter of debate as low sales volumes have impacted the creation of a local supply chain. Nonetheless, the electric two-wheeler is surely ramping up its drive in order for the adoption of green vehicles. 

The electric two-wheeler industry has been leading the charge for the overall EV industry in the country. This year will see the introduction of Ola Electric, which has announced the setting up of the world’s largest electric two-wheeler plant in Tamil Nadu. The 2-million-unit-per-annum facility is slated to go on stream by mid-2021.