Two-wheeler EV registrations fell 1% MoM to 76,163 units in November
Despite a 0.5% decline, Ola Electric saw the highest number of vehicle registrations at 16,246 units during the month, as per Vahan data
Okinawa Autotech witnessed a significant dip of almost 40% as its total registered EVs stood at 9,038 units in November
The demand for two-wheeler electric vehicles (EVs) witnessed a mild dip in November after rising steadily over the past five months.
The total number of EVs registered in the segment fell 1% to 76,163 units in November from 76,953 units in October, as per Vahan data on December 1. This was in sharp contrast to the rise during October. Two-wheeler EV registrations rose over 42% month-on-month (MoM) in October.
Some of the major manufacturers in the segment like Okinawa Autotech, Bajaj, PureEV, and Ola Electric saw a decline in their MoM registrations last month.
Okinawa Autotech witnessed a significant dip of almost 40% as its total registered EVs stood at 9,038 units in November as against 14,939 units in October. As a result, the EV manufacturer dropped one spot to third position in November from second position in October. Ampere Vehicles took the second spot in November.
Despite a marginal decline of 0.5%, Ola Electric saw the highest number of vehicle registrations during the month. This was the third straight month when the startup registered the highest number of registrations. Ola Electric registered a total of 16,246 units of its electric scooters in November as against 16,328 units in the prior month, as per the Vahan website.
The slight decline in Ola Electric’s vehicle registration number comes after the Bhavish Aggarwal-led startup saw a sharp rise in the preceding two months.
However, Ola Electric said in a statement on Thursday, “Surpassing 20,000 units in sales as well, Ola has also emerged as India’s best selling EV manufacturer for a third consecutive month.”
The electric mobility startup also claimed it was leading the EV transformation in the premium scooter segment with a revenue market share of over 50% across internal combustion engine (ICE) and EVs in November.
Meanwhile, Ampere Vehicles saw a rise in its vehicle registrations for the second consecutive month. With registration of 12,232 units, the Tamil Nadu-based EV maker saw a 21.5% MoM growth.
Hero Electric’s two-wheeler EV registrations also increased 1.5% to 9,003 units from 8,867 units in October.
It is pertinent to note that some of these EV players have been in the news for their failure to comply with the Centre’s localisation requirement for component manufacturing of EVs.
The government has decided to suspend incentive payments to some of these companies, including Hero Electric and Okinawa, for flouting the norms under its FAME-II scheme. EV manufacturers, including Ampere Vehicles, Revolt, Jitendra EV, would now reportedly have to face an audit by the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) for the same.
Jitendra EV, whose vehicles were involved in multiple EV fire incidents in the country earlier this year, continued to grow its market share in November. Its EV registrations rose 12.8% to 1,253 units from 1,111 units in October. Its registrations stood at only 661 units in September.
RattanIndia’s electric bike manufacturing unit Revolt saw a sharp decline in its vehicle registrations in November. Its EV registrations almost halved to 524 units during the month from 1,041 units in October. In October, Revolt witnessed a 20% MoM growth in registrations from 865 units in September.
Meanwhile, Ather Electric continued to grow at a steady pace. After a dip in July, the Bengaluru-based escooter manufacturer hasn’t witnessed decline in registrations in any month. Its registrations grew 5.3% MoM to 7,741 units in November. In October, the number stood at 7,353 units, registering a growth of 17% from 6,281 units in September.
Despite a visible pattern of ebbs and flows in demand for two-wheeler EVs, the year 2022 has been positive for the segment. As per a recent JMK Research report, the electric two-wheeler industry accounted for 55% of the total EV sales in FY22 alone.
“The overall E2W sales in India during the first half (H1) of FY2023 was about 4.56 lakh units which is more than twice the sales in H1 of FY2022. During the same period, the sales of high-speed (HS) E2W was more than 65% of the overall E2W sales,” the report said.
Maharashtra recorded the highest high-speed electric two-wheeler sales at 53,043 units in H1 FY23, followed by Karnataka, with 42,371 units and Gujarat with 32,414 units.
In November, the total number of EV registrations in India across vehicle categories rose 2.6% MoM to almost 1.2 Lakh units. Total EV registrations in India stand at 8.9 Lakh units in 2022 so far.
