Why electric two-wheeler makers could not sell 10 lakh units in FY 22-23, know what experts say

Electric Two Wheelers Sale In India: The financial year 2022-23 is about to end, but so far electric two-wheeler sales have been reduced to just 62 per cent of the ambitious target of 1 million units set for 2022-23 by NITI Aayog. According to vehicle (VAHAN) data compiled by the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV), 620,006 units of electric two-wheelers were sold across the country till February 21 in FY23. While the two-wheeler sales have failed to meet the target of 620,006 units in FY2023, it is 146% higher as compared to 249,621 units sold in FY2022.

In this regard, Ashutosh Verma, founder of Exalta India, says that we believe that the sales of two-wheeler EVs during 2022-23 have not reached their set target, due to which many reasons have not been implemented under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme. One of the major reasons was the number of companies coming under scrutiny for alleged violations of local sourcing norms, affecting production and distribution. Due to many incidents of fire in electric vehicles, the trend of customers was also affected. We expect the issues related to FAME II subsidy to be resolved soon and are very optimistic about FY 23-24. If the companies work together with the institutions associated with this sector and with the central and state governments, then the sales target of 2.3 million units of electric two-wheelers in 2023-24 can be achieved.

MS Chugh, Founder-cum-Chairman, Aponyx Electric Vehicles, said most automakers are working on the AIS 156 Amendment Phase 2 certification and are expected to submit their documents to the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) by April. All electric two-wheeler manufacturers are very conscious about the quality of the lithium-ion battery used in their vehicles, so that it can meet the expectations of the customers. With this, we expect to be back on the growth path in FY24 and move swiftly towards achieving our target.

Raghav Nanda, Founder and Acting Director, HCD India, believes that the target of selling one million two-wheelers was too big to start with, while we are facing China’s policy problem, localization, research and development as well as quality due to policy changes. Completed vehicles were in the process of being built. Apart from this, meeting quality standards and slow development of charging infrastructure also affected its production. Winning customer trust, mass market scaling and after sales servicing will be our priority in FY 2024 and positive steps are being taken in this direction to achieve the sales target.