E2W sales at 64k in December, cross six lakh mark in CY2022

(Source: Ola Electric)

After clocking sales of 77,024 units in October and 76,598 units in November, electric two-wheeler (E2W) volumes saw a downtick in December with sales of 76,162 units, as per data available on the VAHAN portal.

The data also showed that Ola Electric retained the market leadership position, having delivered 17,279 units of the S1 and S1 Pro electric scooters during December. The company sold more than 16,000 e-scooters in each of three months, becoming the first in the industry to do so.

Ola Electric in an official release said that it registered total sales  of over 25,000 electric scooters (including undelivered  units) during the month and that it raised its market share to 30 percent.

Bhavish Aggarwal, founder and CEO, Ola Electric, said, “2022 has proven to be the inflection point in India’s journey towards becoming a global EV hub. If last year has shown us the true potential of India’s EV market, next year is poised to open the floodgates for EVs in the country.”

TVS Motor Company, which is currently selling its iQube range of e-scooters, registered its highest ever monthly sales figures of 9,317 in December 2022 and is at the second spot in the retail sales list, as per VAHAN data.

“TVS iQube Electric continued to gain good momentum and has registered 11,071 units in December 2022 backed by the strong order book and increasing acceptance towards electric mobility. TVS iQube Electric registered 11,071 units in December 2022 as against sales of 1,212 units in December 2021,” TVS Motor said in a statement.

Hero Electric was in the third position with 8,091 despatches.

Ather Energy, which delivered 7,646 electric scooters, was in fourth place on the sales list as per VAHAN data. The Bengaluru-based startup claimed it sold 9,187 units in December, registering a 389 percent year-on-year growth.

Ravneet Singh Phokela, chief business officer, Ather Energy, said, “We exit the year with strong sales momentum, and despite an industry dip of almost 40 percent in two-wheeler sales, our December retails grew by 26 percent over November,” adding, “With the year turning, continued industry momentum, and some exciting news lined up for us in January, we expect it to be a bumper month for Ather.”

Sales at Okinawa Autotech and Greaves subsidiary Ampere declined on a month-on-month basis in December. While Okinawa sold 5,279 scooters, Ampere sold 4,408 e-scooters. The spokespeople of both the companies could not be reached for comment.

Overall, electric two-wheeler sales in 2022 hit a milestone as over 6 lakh of them were sold during the year, a fourfold increase from about 1.5 lakh units in 2021.

While Ola Electric ruled the roost by selling 1,09,252 units last year, Okinawa sold 1,01,682 units and Hero Electric 100,123 units. While Ampere came fourth with 79,855 units sold.

Industry body Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) said that even though the E2W industry's performance for the last 12 months ending December 2022 looks positive, the volumes are not keeping up with the projections made by NITI Aayog and many other research agencies.

Sohinder Gill, the SMEV director general, said, “Multiple factors have contributed to the sales curve falling in the last two months of the year, the foremost being the blockage of Rs 1100 crore-plus subsidy to the majority of the players for many months, which has squeezed the working capital of major OEMs. Worryingly, if not resolved quickly, this slowdown may have a negative impact on FY24 volumes.”