Two-Wheeler EV Registrations Cross 70K Mark In October; Ola Electric Retains Top Spot

Electric two-wheeler registrations in India surpassed the 70,000 mark after four months in October, as vehicle demand for a handful of manufacturers continued to witness a sharp rise.

On a month-on-month (MoM) basis, two-wheeler EV registrations rose 9.8% to 70,248 units in October, as per Vahan data on October 31.

However, the market continues to be dominated by only a handful of players like Ola Electric, TVS Motor, Ather Energy, and Bajaj Auto, while the likes of Hero MotoCorp and Lectrix EV have also started gaining traction. 

Despite the company being involved in various controversies, Ola Electric’s escooter registrations continued their uptrend. The IPO-bound company’s registrations jumped 18.6% MoM to 22,169 units in October.

Ola Electric’s founder Bhavish Aggarwal said on X (formerly Twitter) that its escooter sales grew almost 30% in October compared to September.

“Very strong start to the festive season by the Ola Electric team! Our sales grew almost 30% Oct over Sep! The Futurefactory is running at full speed and everyone working more than 70 hours to fulfil all the demand!” Aggarwal’s post read.

In September, Ola Electric’s vehicle registrations, as per Vahan data, stood at 18,691 units.

Meanwhile, the startup is also expanding its product line. It announced the launch of a new escooter model Ola S1X in August this year, days after it started the delivery of its Ola S1 Air model to the customers.

Ola Electric continues to lead the show for electric two-wheeler sales in the country despite numerous complaints about its products and after-sales service quality on social media platforms. Last week, an Ola Electric escooter caught fire in Pune but the company blamed it on ‘aftermarket parts’.

Meanwhile, TVS Motor retained its second position for yet another month. However, its escooter registrations declined marginally to 15,507 units in October from 15,584 units in September.

TVS Motor is also bolstering its EV product line up. Recently, it launched an INR 2.5 Lakh escooter, TVS X, which is currently the most expensive escooter in the Indian market.

During its recent earnings announcement, the domestic automotive giant said it would launch multiple new products to build a complete EV product portfolio over the next eight quarters. TVS also plans to ramp up its iQube escooter production to 25,000 units per month in the coming days.

Is A New Trend Emerging?

Bajaj Auto’s EV registrations surpassed those of Ather Energy in October, allowing the former to grab the third position from the latter. 

Bajaj Auto saw almost an 18% jump in its electric two-wheeler registrations to 8,373 units in October from 7,097 units the month before. On the other hand, Ather Energy’s escooter sales rose over 11% MoM to 7,957 units this month.

Ather Energy said in a statement that it has delivered 10,056 scooters to its customers in the month, registering about 30% MoM growth. With Diwali just around the corner, the e-mobility startup expects this positive momentum to continue.

It is pertinent to note that some of the EV leaders of last year, including Hero Electric and Okinawa Autotech, continue to see a decline in their registrations this year.

In October, Hero Electric’s EV registrations fell 24.5% to 636 units from 843 units in September. In October last year, the company’s vehicle sales stood at 8,869 units.

Okinawa Autotech saw its vehicle registrations decline over 22% MoM to 1,392 in October this year, which is also in sharp contrast with its 14,953 units of escooter registrations during the same month last year. 

Interestingly, a few new players in the market are seeing a rise in their registrations. While Hero MotoCorp saw an over 200% jump in its vehicle registrations in October to 1,833 units, Lectrix EV’s vehicle registrations stood at 1,021 units, up 39% MoM.

Overall, total EV registrations across categories grew to 1.32 Lakh units in October from 1.28 Lakh units in September.

As of today, a total of 12,27,195 EVs have been registered in India in 2023.