Electric scooters are rising, touching the 80-thousand mark in February 2024. Whether we like it or not, the EV revolution is taking place in full force. While the four-wheeler market has seen slow adoption, the two-wheeler market has embraced electric vehicles with open arms. The front runners of this market are electric scooters that can swiftly capture the market from their ICE counterparts. Let's look into how they have grown, who are the leaders, and how it is expected to continue.
Electric scooters have been on the rise for a while now. It all kicked off with the push from the government back in 2015. While their share in the market was minimal then, many companies from even outside the auto industry entered it to be a part of the boom. And before you knew it, every other company had a two-wheeler. The government stopped some of these companies by banning some illegal low-speed scooters. Some products stood out in this crowd with their unique features and high range. A factor that has mainly contributed to this rise is the minimal amount spent on running these scooters.
If we analyse just the last year's electric scooter sales, we see that, barring June and October, electric scooters have seen double-digit YOY growth. May 2023 was the highest in this regard, with a mighty 149% rise in sales. 2024 has followed the trends of 2023. January saw a 27% rise in sales, while February touched 24%. The share of electric two-wheelers has also hit 5.7% of the market in February 2024.
The electric scooter market has allowed new EV makers to compete with established giants. The biggest name in this is Ola Electric, which has captured a 41% market share with its Ola S1. Following behind Ola are the established brands TVS Motors and Bajaj Auto, with 18% and 15% of the market, respectively. Another young company that has reached an impressive 11% share is Ather. Some other brands that have gained a foothold are Ampere Electric, Okinawa Autotech, Okaya EV and Bgauss Auto.
The government targets an 80% share of EVs in two-wheeler sales by 2030. Mckinsey predicted this number might fall between 60% and 70%. Whether this will happen or not, current trends might point in the positive direction. It will be interesting to see what companies do to advance the technology further. Can they bring electric scooter prices on par with their ICE counterparts?
