EVs Account For 4.4% Of 2-wheeler Registrations, Shows VAHAN Data

The penetration of electric two-wheelers in the country has hit 4.4 per cent in FY23, a 2.5x jump over the previous year, when it was at 1.74 per cent, thus heralding the inflexion point for a quick takeoff of the segment that EV makers were hoping for. 

Data from VAHAN, the government’s e-portal for automobile registration and other services, reveals that in FY23 (till March 31), 670,000 electric two-wheelers were registered — an over threefold growth from 220,000 in FY22. In March this year alone, the total number of registrations of electric two-wheelers has gone up to 75,826, an increase of 20 per cent over the previous month.

 

Over 60 per cent of the registrations in March came from Ola Electric, TVS, and Ather Energy.    

In the four-wheeler market, the penetration of EVs in FY23 has crossed 1 per cent market share for the first time. At present it is at 1.1 per cent, with 39,445 registrations, compared to only 0.61 per cent in FY22 . This segment is dominated by the Tatas, which commands over 79 per cent of the market share. MG Motors comes at a distant second, with 11 per cent share.   

  

Clearly, there has been a sea change in the electric two-wheeler sweepstakes. 

Ola Electric, with 22 per cent of the total market (151,294 units) is far ahead of its rivals, with no one even crossing the 100,000 mark in FY23. In FY22, the company was fifth in the pecking order, with a registration share of 6.5 per cent. What’s more, nearly a third of its registrations have taken place in the first three months of 2023. In FY 22 Hero Electric dominated the segment, with a 30 per cent share of the electric two-wheeler market.  

 

In FY22 Hero Electric and Okinawa (which had the second spot) collectively controlled nearly 51 per cent of the market. In FY23 they are down to almost half of that, together accounting for 27 per cent of the market.

The two companies have been facing challengers as they are being audited for alleged violations of localisation norms on the basis of which subsidies are given. In fact, the government has suspended subsidies to these two firms.

 

The incumbent two-wheeler makers, led by TVS Motor and Bajaj Auto, now comprise over 16 per cent of the electric two-wheeler market. With the latter expected to push the pedal this year, and Hero MotoCorp also building capacity, they could be a force to reckon with in the future. 

However, as of now, it is TVS which is ahead. It has seen an eight-fold increase in the registration of EVs from FY 22 to FY 23, hitting 80,488 registrations this year.

Half of these took place in the first three months of 2023.