2 Wheeler EV’s Continue Downhill Drive In May, Sales Drop Another 20%

Electric 2 Wheeler sales, hit by fire incidents in April that have continued to grab headlines in May too, bore the brunt of buyer anxiety with sales dropping a further 20% in May. It seems the buyer now has something more stressful than range anxiety to worry about.

Vehicle registration portal, VAHAN portal’s registration data is showing that the electric two-wheelers sales numbers fell to 39,339 in May. Keep in mind that till March  this year, it did seem like growth was going to be the only trend for the category in the foreseeable future.

With 2,849 registrations in May, Hero Electric, which had previously held the top spot in electric two-wheeler sales, fell to fifth place.

With the exception of Ather Energy, Bajaj Auto, and Revolt Motor, leading OEMs saw a drop in registrations in May. Ola Electric, one of the top two companies in the electric two-wheeler sector (EV Sector), saw a 28% drop in registrations, besides the fall in deliveries.

According to the VAHAN data compiled by Elara Capital, TVS Motor registrations were down 69%, Hero Electric 57%, Okinawa 16%, and Ampere 11%.

In May, electric vehicle penetration as a percentage of total two-wheeler registrations was 3.2%, down from 4.1% in April. The broader two wheeler market, by contrast, grew strongly over the previous month, growing over 8% in May.

While the current fall in electric 2 wheelers is due to both wary consumers and firms who have voluntarily decided to play it safe and test their vehicles and batteries especially before delivery, the fact remain that the case for two wheeler EV’s is extremely strong. It shouldn’t take too long before a combination of strong brands, offers and incentives drives sales up again, especially with petrol prices staying close to Rs 100 in key regions of the country.

How the government tackled the mini-crisis of confidence is the only issue, and some sort of certification that will be displayed prominently has been spoken off as a way out. In some ways, it is not such a bad thing that the issues have been identified now, as the sector has a long runway ahead in terms of market share gains and sheer numbers in the  market that saw peak sales of 21 million units in 2019, before dropping to 15 million by 2021.