If ever proof was required of the growing demand for electric mobility in India, particularly in its most affordable form – electric two-wheelers – then the retail numbers of first-half of 2022 reveal that truth.
A total of 2,40,662 electric two-wheelers have been sold between January to June 2022 as per the latest industry retail sales data revealed in FADA president Vinkesh Gulati’s tweet on July 12. With this number, e-two-wheelers have contributed to 3.6 percent of total two-wheeler sales (66,95,434 units) in the first half of calendar year 2022.
Flashback to CY2021 where of the total 1,22,58,164 two-wheelers sold in the country, electric two-wheelers comprised 1,43,261 units, or 1.16 percent of overall sales. Clearly, six months on, the level of EV contribution to overall two-wheeler sales has grown three-fold, or by 210 percent to be specific. This gains significance as it shows that consumer confidence in electric two-wheelers – despite incidents of e-scooters catching fire – remains strong.
Okinawa, Hero Electric lead the way
In the first half of 2022, the top five manufacturers have together sold 1,82,936 units, or 76 percent of the total e-two-wheelers sales. Okinawa Autotech is leading the way with total sales of 47,121 units, with its best sales in April 2022 (11,012 units). This January-June performance has bettered the company’s CY2021 total sales of 29,945 units.
At No. 2 is Hero Electric – the CY2021 market leader with 46,260 units – which has seen 44,084 of its e-scooters go home to new buyers and is currently only 3,037 units behind Okinawa. Hero Electric notched the best monthly sales in the first half of the year in March – 13,028 units. In July, it began manufacturing and rollout of its Optima and NYX e-scooters from Mahindra Group’s plant in Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh.
In third position is Ola Electric with 41,994 units. The company saw smart sales traction, particularly in March (9,140) and April (12,703), but since then numbers have fallen to 5,883 units in June. Ampere Vehicles, at No. 4, is having a good run given that it has sold 33,785 units in the first six months of 2022, which is a 170 percent growth over the 12,470 units it sold in all of 2021.
Bangalore-based Ather Energy, which finished fifth, has shown strong and consistent sales. In fact, there is month-on-month growth across the first six months of 2022, with its 15,952 units sales being one e-scooter more than its CY2021 total.
Meanwhile, ICE majors Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor, which have diversified into e-mobility with the Chetak and iQube respectively, are clocking decent numbers too. TVS clocked 8,670 units and Bajaj has 7,394 units to its credit.