Two-Wheeler EV Registrations Rise 7% MoM To Breach 81K Mark In Jan

Following last year’s FAME-II fiasco, which impacted the top line of all major EV players in the country’s electric two-wheeler market, vehicle registrations now seem to be headed towards more consistent growth.

According to Vahan data collected by Inc42 on February 1, total two-wheeler EV registration increased 7.4% month-on-month (MoM) to 81,344 units in January, with Ola Electric again topping the charts.  

Helped by the festive season boost, electric two-wheeler registrations in India crossed the 90,000-per-month mark in November last year. However, the month of December witnessed a decline with total registrations falling to 75,717 units.

The new year came with new hopes and the market responded with open arms. Ola Electric’s escooter registrations increased 6% MoM to more than 32,000 units in January 2024. On a year-on-year basis, the EV maker witnessed an over 75% jump from the 18,353 units it sold precisely a year ago.

Meanwhile, legacy automobile player TVS Motor took the second spot as the company’s EV registrations jumped over 23% to 15,181 units last month versus 12,293 units in December. In January last year, the company sold more than 10,464 escooters.

At 10,742 units, legacy two-wheeler manufacturer Bajaj Auto came third, although it registered a mere 3% MoM rise in the number of vehicles registered in January.

Amongst these players, Ather Energy witnessed the biggest MoM jump in its vehicle registrations in the first month of 2024. The electric two-wheeler major’s vehicle registrations increased over 41% to 9,209 units last month from the 6,500 units sold in December, 

In ‘Ather 2023 report’, which was published last week, the company said that it sold 1,11,410 units of escooters in 2023, registering a YoY growth of 88%. Last year, Ather claimed to have installed over 900 Ather Grids across India, bringing the total number of fast chargers to over 1,600 points.

Amid rising competition by the deep-pocketed and well-established players in the electric two-wheeler market, Ather is finding it difficult to keep up with its peers. Recently, the startup slashed the price of its 450S escooter variant by INR 20,000 to boost its sales.

Meanwhile, after launching Ather 450 Apex recently, the company is now diversifying its product portfolio. It also plans to launch a family scooter named ‘Diesel’ in mid-2024.

A few others such as Kinetic Green Energy, Tork Motors, and BGauss Auto saw some increase in their monthly EV registrations. However, the likes of Okinawa Autotech, Hero Electric, PureEV, Revolt, and Ampere continue to lose their charm. 

Okinawa’s escooter registrations declined over 29% MoM to 683 units in January. This is a massive 84.5% YoY decline.

Hero Electric also registered a 24% decline MoM after selling a mere 419 units in January. Hero Electric’s EV registrations stood at a significant 6,400 units in the same month a year ago.

It is crucial to note that most of these EV companies are impacted by the government’s decision to stop subsidies on the back of alleged misappropriation of FAME-II scheme benefits.

Meanwhile, after giving the initial boost with incentives, the Central government seems to have become even less concerned about injecting more capital into the electric two-wheeler market. The government is now focussing more on ebuses and charging infrastructure to strengthen public transportation.

At least this is what the government’s interim budget announcements for 2024-25 for the EV sector suggest. 

Overall, India’s total EV registrations across vehicle segments slightly grew to 1.43 Lakh in January from 1.41 in December last year.

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