Okinawa sold 10,133 ‘high-speed’ e-scooters in FY2020, beating Hero Electric by 2,700+ units

When it comes to electric mobility, the Indian automotive market still remains at a nascent stage compared to foreign examples. However, there is a noticeable interest and investment happening in the budding EV category. Our market has limited all-electric choices among four-wheelers while the two-wheeler category has been witnessing good activity in the past couple of years. Out of this, electric scooters or ‘e-scooters’ form the strongest majority.

We have already covered why an electric scooter makes more sense than a regular petrol-CVT product; especially in urban environments. At the moment, prices of premium or ‘high-speed’ electric scooters are substantially higher than an equivalent petrol choice.

Still, their average running costs and ease of use make up for this in the long run. The desirability of electric scooters is bound to increase with rapid advancement of emission-free powertrains and lithium-ion battery technology in the years to come. Below is a brief analysis of its market performance:

Presently, India has five major electric two-wheeler brands: Okinawa, Hero Electric, Ather Energy, Ampere and Revolt. Mainstream manufacturers such as TVS Motor Company and Bajaj Auto have also joined the party with the iQube and Chetak, respectively. But on the sales chart of FY2020, Okinawa became the bestselling electric scooter brand in India (in ‘high-speed e-scooter’ category).

At a total sales figure of 10,133 units, Okinawa beat Hero Electric (not to be confused with Hero MotoCorp) by more than 2,700 units. Ather Energy, the Bangalore-based brand which has set a high benchmark in India’s path to emission-free mobility, came third at 2,908 units in the last fiscal. Ampere, which primarily concentrates on ‘low-speed’ scooters, followed at just one unit shy of 2,500.

Electric Scooter Sales India – FY 2019/20

Low-speed scooters do not require licence or registration to operate. In other words, anyone from any age category can ride them. The top speed is generally limited to 25km/h. Finally, Revolt comes in at fifth position with a sales count of 1,062 units. The company has got only electric commuter motorcycles in its portfolio but has been added to the list, as there are only a handful number of players in the overall EV market.

One can observe a high rate of sales fluctuation across the chart. The reason behind this is the lower availability of e-scooters — due to lower demand — in comparison to conventional petrol-CVT models. Sales are limited to select cities and production numbers are often fixed after thorough market research. The same applies to the current range of electric four-wheelers sold in the country.

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