Will electric bikes and cars sustain in India?

 Yes electric two wheelers will sustain in India specially among the middle class citizens. They can afford to buy a bike with 1 to 2 lakhs, not beyond that.

Electric two wheelers are also easy to produce and often called a low hanging fruit from business perspective. Only thing we will not compromise on is the value-for-money factor. Electric scooters and motorcycles should have performance matching their design, not something like Hero Dash e-scooter, which could have been a much better product for its price. Also they should have competitive performance when compared to a petrol two wheeler. As far as mileage is concerned, the vehicle should have an apt level of mileage for its price in order to survive. What I mean is that if a bike is priced at 60k-70k on road, then it is a good choice because it will get minimum 2 kW motor, 50-60 kmph top speed, 2 ride modes, remote locking, anti theft alarm, ‘find-my-bike’ and a high voltage battery that lasts minimum 100 km and is swappable.

For cars, the sweet spot is yet to arrive. Electric cars cost you a hefty amount of money. Also the cars available right now, except the Kona EV, are for city purpose only, and are priced 10 lakhs minimum. For that price they do not even deliver at least 200 km mileage, forget performance. Also the EV infra is developing in various pockets of the country and not on PAN India basis, given these facts, I think it is wiser to go for electric two wheelers over electric cars now. However I will not stop you if you have a high budget for buying a car.

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What are the upcoming electric bikes in India?

 E-bikes are seem to be taking over in India. With the current pandemic many people are avoiding public transport in India. More so people are now shifting to two wheelers for their everyday commute. Reports suggests that the demand for two wheelers has increased at a tremendous rate in the last few months. The reports also suggests that e-bikes are taking over. With constant increasing price of petroleum and diesel, people are shifting their attention to electric vehicles.

Here I list few of the promising e-bike brands in India-

1. Viertric Motors
2. Ather
3. Pure EV
4. Omobikes
5. Electrek
6. Revolt Motors
7. Tork Motorcycles

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Why are electric bikes so expensive in India?

 Quality EVs are not cheap anywhere.

On the face of it, a battery, a controller, some motors and wires should be cheaper than an internal combustion engine, with valves, chains, belts, pistons, a gearbox, shafts, and hoses and pumps connecting to the fuel.

But the rest of it - suspension, lights, interiors, air conditioning, braking (often regenerative in EVs), and wheels, tyres (made from petroleum products) are all the same.

So despite the relative simplicity of electric vehicles, they’re not that bereft of components to make them super cheap.

Unless, of course, we reach economies of scale so big, that the price of everything drops.

Lithium and the price on that stand in the way of EVs becoming cheap anytime soon. Whoever cracks a substitute to lithium ion batteries, and gets either a very durable battery with far more charge cycles, or energy density, this is going to remain the same.

However, it isn’t just the lithium.

Today, there are two kinds of electric two wheelers in India. Those that do not need registration and license, and those that do. Typically, it is the performance below a certain level (cannot go above 45 kmph or so) that qualifies for an exemption. These are cheaper, for many of them are really basic, use lead acid batteries, have no performance components, or too much attention to detail like handling characteristics. Indeed cheap to make. Often cheap to purchase as well.

I came across a “Flio” that is exempt from registration, that is 98,000 rupees! They claim superior battery technology though, and guarantee six years versus the big ones giving a three year unlimited kilometre warranty, like with the Ather.

I have not come across any electric motorcycle that is exempt yet. Why? Because the performance seeking motorcycle riders are unlikely to switch to electric and performance electric motorcycles are expensive to make. However, electric scooters are promising exciting performance, to say the least. This is a combination of largely urban practicality concerns, and convenience, and some style.

At the moment, none of the manufacturers could be making much money at all, despite the subsidies. It’s because they must all be recouping their investment in the infrastructure. Most of the components they import, including the lithium, aren’t cheap yet.

There is a qualitative difference in every electric vehicle component vs another. The higher performance you want, the higher the quality of components and engineering you will have to invest in. Quality always costs something more than basic functionality.

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Related Is it worth it to go for an electric bike in India, or should I stay with traditional bikes?

 Transport is essential to modern living. It drives economic growth, allowing communities too connect with one another. We are innovating to help people and goods move around an ever crowded world more cleanly and efficiently.

Evolution of vehicle is as fascinating as evolution of human. From the first basic motor car to latest smart electric vehicle, world has witnessed advancement in automotive technology. Automobile industry is seeking cleaner and more efficient way of transportation.

Electric vehicle industry is blooming as it has many advantages over the preceding technologies. Let’s have a brief about potential electric vehicle scenario in India. Latest vehicle count suggests that, India has around 176 million vehicles on road with almost 75% of them are two wheelers.

The question is, why do Indians prefer two wheel vehicles?

Let’s have a glance over the lookout of consumers…….

India is the country with the rate of urbanization of 34%. Growing cities are giving rise to several issues such as traffic and pollution. Following advantages have been pointed out by the consumers during survey:

In metro cities, traffic has always been a huge problem. For travelling a short distances (such as a quick errand to a grocery store etc.) people prefer using 2 wheelers as they are easy to manoeuvre through the traffic.

Bike is cheaper than cars. And also parts and servicing is also cheaper.

Bike doesn’t need large space, can be parked into small spaces.

Bikes are easy to use.

Lower per kilometre cost.

In near future electric bikes will be the most preferred mode of commutation. Why? To understand that point, let’s go through short comings of conventional vehicle and advantages of electric vehicles.

Conventional vehicles burn fuel in Internal Combustion Engine (ICE), on the other hand; battery powered electric vehicle don’t have an engine. Instead they use energy stored in batteries to power on electric motors.

Electric vehicles cost significantly less to run and maintain than gas powered vehicles. No gas to buy, no oil changes and fewer moving parts to break or wear out.

To refuel, you simply need to plug in at home, at work or opportunity charge on the road.

The cost of the electricity required to power an electric vehicle is significantly cheaper than that of regular fuel such as petrol or diesel. Let’s take a quick look over savings have been observed if using electric bike.

Consumer Savings

In five years, Electric Vehicle has almost negligible maintenance cost, on contrary fuel vehicle has yearly maintenance cost of nearly 10000 to 15000 rs.

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