Detect my Current LocationHow Ola, Ather have succeeded where other startups are yet to
While Ather and Ola have established themselves as market leaders, others haven’t quite achieved the same level of success yet.
Published On Aug 22, 2023 07:00:00 AM
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The Indian two-wheeler EV scene has seen multiple players enter the fray but only a handful have been truly successful yet. In this list, we explore all the Indian EV startups, their indigenously developed products and why some have yet to take off.
There are a lot of players in the Indian two-wheeler segment, but here we are focusing on those homegrown startups that have developed their own products and whose products are already on sale.
All numbers here are from the government’s VAHAN portal as of August 21, 2023.
Ola
Deliveries commenced: December 2021
Units sold till date: 2,65,227
Cab aggregator Ola joined the EV fray when it acquired the Dutch startup Etergo in May 2020 and its debut product, the S1 Pro entered the market a year and a half later. Unlike most of the other names on this list (with the exception of Bounce), Ola didn’t start from scratch, but it did significantly re-engineer its scooter for India.
While Ola did rush its product onto the scene, its tempting price, promised features and pan-India sales model have helped it quickly become the market leader. Ola consistently posts 5-digit sales numbers every month and it is firmly in the top ten selling scooters in India.
Ather
Deliveries commenced: September 2018
Units sold till date: 1,43,189
Ather Energy is one of the most reputed startups here and has painstakingly done years worth of legwork before bringing its products to market. While initially sales were quite slow, gradually that number shot up and today Ather is one of the bestselling startups in the country, with its 450X being the third bestselling two-wheeler EV.
Bounce
Deliveries commenced: April 2022
Units sold till date: 7,307
Bounce acquired 22Motors (who initially developed the scooter in partnership with Kymco for India) and launched the Infinity E1 in December 2021. Deliveries commenced in April 2022 but despite featuring a relatively lower asking price as well as featuring a novel battery subscription service, it hasn’t really caught on.
Tork
Deliveries commenced: July 2022
Units sold till date: 959
Tork’s story is also a long one, just like with Ather Energy. The company first announced its product way back in 2016, however, the bike finally went on sale just last year, and like most other start-ups Tork has struggled with the challenges of the pandemic as well as a rapidly evolving subsidy situation. The result is that one year after the commencement of deliveries less than one thousand units have been registered so far. Tork has discontinued the base Kratos e-bike and currently the Kratos R commands Rs 1.87 lakh. However, the company has introduced its Kratos ‘Urban Trim’, which takes the price down by a further Rs 20,000.
Ultraviolette
Deliveries commenced: January 2023
Units sold till date: 193
We fist rode the Ultraviolette prototype in 2019 and deliveres were promised for October 2020. But like many others, the pandemic threw a spanner in the works and Ultraviolette used to the time to heavily reigneer the bike, with a much bigger battery and a much fatter price to boot. Priced between Rs 3.80 lakh-Rs 4.55 lakh (ex-showroom, Bengaluru), the F77 is currently the most expensive electric two-wheeler on sale today. Deliveries finally began in January 2023, and less than 200 bikes have been registered since.
Simple
Deliveries commenced: June 2023
Units sold till date: 35
Simple originally ‘launched’ its One e-scooter in 2021 following which we test rode a heavily reworked version in 2022. The production-spec One e-scooter officially went on sale in May of this year and deliveries finally began in June 2023. Simple initially claimed that it had over one lakh bookings but sales have been very slow so far. In the nearly three months that the Simple One has been on sale, only 35 units have been registered.
Oben
Deliveries commenced: July 2023
Units sold till date: 22
Quite like Simple, we rode the Oben Rorr e-bike more than a year ago, but it only went on sale last month. As of now, only 25 Rorr e-bikes have been sold.
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