The Evolution Of EV Adoption In The Indian Two-Wheeler Market

India is home to the world’s largest number of two-wheeler buyers. This world leading market has been driven by the increasing Indian economy and local consumption, while being supported by progressive policies by the government. The aspirational Indian consumers have especially been a key driver for this industry for many years, further propelling this market to be the largest in the world. World leading quality standards, high scale supply chain systems and mature OEM capabilities supplementarily strengthen and drive this market. 

With the increasing aspiration and buying power of the Indian consumers subsequently driving demand for vehicles, dependence on conventional sources of energy will not be a sustainable solution for India, as we import our crude oil requirements. In line with this, progressive pro-EV policies in terms of FAME II and successive state EV policies have driven customer adoption for EV two-wheelers. The market has already seen an increase of 235 per cent YoY in August 2022 leading to 5 per cent EV penetration, which is the best among the two-wheeler markets across the world.

Customer adoption of electric two-wheelers continue to increase, with expectations of high-quality products, differentiated experiences as compared to conventional offerings and, an aspiration to be a part of this evolutionary journey. Recent EV launches by major OEMs also show the seriousness of the market players to lead this journey – backed by comprehensive long-term commitments including engineering and R&D capabilities. This motivated participation will bring in increased portfolio of options – for customers across diverse segments in the Indian two-wheeler market.

The evolutionary electric two-wheeler journey is intertwined with the Indian digitalisation story. The increasing tech savviness of the Indian consumers has brought in evolved expectations in terms of connected features and digital capabilities, in their journey to purchase, own and care for their electric two-wheelers. These expectations drive the differentiated experiences – thus establishing that the EV market and connected digital services will have to grow and develop hand-in-hand. 

As consumers enthusiastically embrace this new evolutionary and digitally connected way of mobility, we see the electric two-wheeler market growing expeditiously in the coming 5 years.

Manu Saxena

Guest Author The Author is Senior Vice President of Future Mobility at TVS Motor Company