BEWARE THE HIGHS OF MARCH

The e2W industry scaled many a peak in March. Has the tipping point indeed arrived?

- SURAJEET DAS GUPTA

Did we just have the elusive tipping point for electric two-wheelers (e2Ws) in March? It ☐ was a milestone month in more ways than one. Sure, e2W sales had their highest registrations in March — more than 138,000 compared to the previous monthly high of 103,000 in May 2023.

March registrations are nearly double of February, and only the second time monthly registrations have crossed 100,000. It was also the month when e2Ws accounted for 9 per cent of all twowheelers. In scooters alone (e-motorcycles are few), electric penetration is said to have reached 28 per cent in March.

Impressive as the peaks are, they look more so because they came at a time when government subsidies on e2Ws have touched a historic low.

"The tipping point has already happened. The subsidy, which is very low now, does not really matter to the big boys," says the top executive of one of the "big boys", who cannot be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media.

Is he right?

Behind the surge

Makers of e2Ws aggressively liquidated their stocks at deep discounts, as the second edition of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles scheme came to an end on March 31, and was replaced by a new electric mobility promotion scheme (EMPS) from April 1.

The new EMPS, valid for four months, halved the subsidies per KWH (kilowatt hour, a measure of battery capacity) to ₹5,000 per vehicle.

In response, several e2W makers, such as Bajaj Auto, TVS, and Ather increased their prices by ₹2,000 to 10,000. Ola, the electric scooter leader, has not yet raised prices, but has reduced discounts.