Ola Electric Maintains Dominance As 2-Wheeler EV Registrations Cross 1 Lakh Mark In May

Electric two-wheeler registrations crossed the 1 Lakh mark for the first time in May, despite the problems around the FAME-II subsidy due to allegations of misappropriation against certain manufacturers. 

Total vehicle registration in the category jumped 57% to 1,04,771 units in May from 86,259 in April, as per data available on the Vahan portal on June 1. Ola Electric continued to lead the pack, followed by TVS Motor and Ather Energy.

Ola Electric saw a record 28,438 registration last month, a rise of over 29% from 21,991 units in April.

It must be noted that the Bhavish Aggarwal-led startup, along with Ather Energy, TVS Motor, and Hero MotoCorp, was being probed by the government for allegedly billing their escooter chargers and proprietary software separately as accessories in order to claim FAME-II subsidy. 

Following this, all four manufacturers last month decided to refund the cost of chargers and software to the customers, cumulatively amounting to INR 288 Cr. Ola Electric had to reportedly refund INR 130 Cr to 1 Lakh Ola S1 Pro customers.

In a statement on Thursday, Ola Electric said it sold over 35,000 escooters in May. 

“Riding on its highest-ever monthly sales in May, Ola has captured an impressive market share of over 30% and has achieved a year-on-year growth of 300% during the last month,” it said.

Meanwhile, TVS Motors, which was at the second spot, saw its vehicle registrations jump over 131% month-on-month (MoM) to 20,254 units in May.

In a sharp reversal, Ather Energy saw its registrations zoom 96% to 15,256 units in May from 7,786 units in April. In April, it witnessed a 36% decline in vehicle sales, which it attributed to the uncertainty created around the FAME-II policy.

However, in a statement issued on Thursday, Ather Energy attributed the rise in its registrations in May to the growth in underlying demand, which it said was fuelled by the impending revision of FAME-II subsidy.

“This (the revisions) led to some consumers bringing forward their purchases, in order to avail the higher subsidy amount. We hope to maintain this momentum as the manufacturing industry and its ecosystem continue to grow,” said Ravneet Singh Phokela, chief business officer of Ather Energy.

It must be noted that following the government’s decision to slash the incentives for electric two-wheelers to 15% of ex-factory price from 40% earlier and cut the demand incentive to INR 10,000/kWh from INR 15,000/kWh, many manufacturers, including Ola Electric, Ather Energy, Matter, have decided to hike their vehicle prices.

The impact of these price hikes on the demand for two-wheeler EVs remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, the trend of growth was visible across OEMs in May. Bajaj Auto’s EV registrations surged 168% MoM to 9,911 units last month, while Lectrix EV saw a 212% MoM jump to 1,000 units in May from 320 in April.

However, Okinawa Autotech and Hero Electric continued to see their vehicle demand dwindle MoM. While Okinawa’s vehicle registrations dropped to 2,905 units in May from 3,218 units in April, Hero Electric saw a 36% MoM decline to 2,109 units.

It is pertinent to note that Hero Electric recorded sales of over 13,000 units in March last year, while Okinawa recorded its highest vehicle registration number of around 15,000 in October last year. 

Overall, total EV registrations grew to 1,57,217 units in May from 1,10,997 in April. The total number of EV registrations in the country stood at 6,19,172 so far in 2023.