[HN Gopher] India's Electric Two-Wheeler Market: Rise, Reset and...
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India's Electric Two-Wheeler Market: Rise, Reset and What Comes
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Author : prabinjoel
Score : 53 points
Date : 2026-01-09 19:13 UTC (5 days ago)
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| sidkshatriya wrote:
| Anybody own an electric Two-Wheeler ? What has your experience
| been ? Pros and Cons ?
| alistairSH wrote:
| We have an e-assist bicycle, so not quite the same as an
| e-scooter (moto-style, not kick). But, it's great. It doesn't
| have a throttle, so no pedal-free mode, but with assist on full
| setting, it'll go 18mph with very little effort. Great for the
| 8 mile ride to my wife's office (minimal sweat, she does shower
| there) and she can turn down the assist on the way home for a
| cardio workout.
|
| Here in the US, most of the e-scooters (moto-style) are range-
| limited (battery size/tech) and overpriced (north of $5K) for
| what you get. Not when a 150cc scooter is <$5000 and will go
| >100 miles on a ~1 gallon tank.
| 2Gkashmiri wrote:
| Yep. Bought first one in 2019. Hero electric. Unon-registration
| one. Brilliant.
|
| In 2023 bought one cheap lead acid battery one for [?]40k. Best
| cheap decision ever. Takes me around the city. Replaced
| batteries last month for [?]13k.
|
| I went with cheap ones because they are Low tech. Its simpler
| to service. Simpler to fix and diy.
|
| My daily run is around 10km so i don't care for anything
| mileage. In cities, its perfect, even the heavy duty tech
| loaded ones.
| throwawaygod wrote:
| model name?
| tillcarlos wrote:
| I own a vinfast theon S and a daybike quantum s1. Living in
| Vietnam.
|
| prices were 2.6k usd and 1.9 for the quantum. Ranges are 100km
| and 250km
|
| I will probably never buy a gas bike again. Ranges are not a
| problem in the city. They are quiet and fast. And I pay almost
| nothing to charge them.
|
| If I complain about air quality I at least feel like I need to
| put money into companies that are actively working on
| solutions. Especially for small bikes it's a no-brainer to go
| electric.
| axus wrote:
| The US has a problem with theft, how is it solved in Vietnam?
| quietthrow wrote:
| Curious how this impact air pollution? My understanding is that
| the largest contributor of air pollution in cities is vehicles.
| And if predominantly the vehicles are cars and 2 wheelers and of
| that the higher percentage is 2 wheelers and if those are
| changing from petrol to electric then it should make a dent in
| pollution. As such air pollution could be a proxy of how e-2w
| benefit the country...
| whateverboat wrote:
| Yes. This has long being the case. Cities with national
| monuments used to enforce "only eletrical taxis" rule near the
| monuments to protect them from pollution and this was
| successful.
| foobarian wrote:
| I imagine if the 2-wheelers have those awful 2-cycle engines
| this would be a slam dunk
| rob74 wrote:
| Not only air pollution - if I think about the two-stroke
| engines that typically power cheap two-wheel vehicles, noise
| pollution also comes to mind...
| carlosjobim wrote:
| Even the smallest motorcycles are four-stroke, unless we're
| talking about hobbyist stuff like dirt bikes.
| prmoustache wrote:
| Well let's face it, not on the same level but even four-
| stroke tend to annoyingly noise, saying this as an owner. A
| screaming 2 stroke engine is super annoying but the bass of
| say, a Yamaha T-Max is also super annoying and will
| transmit accross walls even better. And so many people run
| noisy aftermarket exhausts.
| unregistereddev wrote:
| This is true in the USA where motorcycles are expensive
| toys. When I visit India, most motorcycles on the road
| seem to be very quiet in comparison. The constant sound
| of horns is more annoying than the engine noise.
| colechristensen wrote:
| 2 stroke engines on new vehicles were banned in India 20
| years ago and there have also been some restrictions on re-
| registering old 2 stroke vehicles as well
|
| you're not wrong they just solved that part of the problem
| already
| albert_e wrote:
| China's EV-2W sales graph shows a peak in 2021 and then a
| declining trend in past few years. Curious to know what's
| happening there. I couldn't find any explanation in the article
| (admittedly I just skimmed).
| shagie wrote:
| Might have been the bike share bubble? Asianometry - China's
| Bonkers Bike-share Bubble https://youtu.be/FQrEDq8KPiU and
| China Observer - bike graveyard https://youtu.be/49xQ2sTkjwM
|
| During: https://www.weforum.org/stories/2020/07/4-big-bike-
| sharing-t...
|
| After: https://www.news8000.com/lifestyle/money/china-s-bike-
| sharin...
| sidkshatriya wrote:
| My theory: China became richer and more developed. So:
|
| (1) Public transport became better and some people shifted to
| it
|
| (2) Some people upgraded to cars
| spaceman_2020 wrote:
| Price seems to be a pretty big factor, as well as the lack of any
| charging infrastructure. There's also the fact that a lot of
| scooter owning families don't have dedicated parking spaces
| in/outside their homes - not even enough to put up a charging
| point
|
| The other problem is that the pricing for any decent eScooter
| starts hitting the same price range as a mid-range (for India)
| bike
|
| The Ola S1 Pro has the same price as Bajaj NS200.
|
| In the Indian context, bikes have way more street appeal. Even a
| cursory glance would tell you that the Bajaj NS200 looks way
| cooler than Ola S1.
|
| So at that price range, a consumer essentially has to decide
| between a cool 150-200cc motorcycle from a trusted manufacturer,
| or a rather uncool electric scooter from a brand new manufacturer
| with reports of unreliability, poor charging infrastructure and
| unknown long term longevity
| alephnerd wrote:
| > same price range as a mid-range (for India) bike
|
| Or a used Maruti Suzuki.
|
| My relatives from small town India all decided to buy 1-2L used
| cars instead of an EV Bike when upgrading. The issue is
| consumers are aspirational, and a two-wheeler just isn't viewed
| as a positive anymore, as DyCM DK Shivakumar crassly pointed
| out [0]
|
| That said, I am optimistic about the prospect of EV cars in
| small town India in the next 5-10 years, as the dealerships
| also function as EV charge points, and distances traveled are
| much lower so range anxiety isn't as significant.
|
| [0] - https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/dk-
| shivak...
| porridgeraisin wrote:
| Tier ? cities like Coimbatore already have great EV
| penetration compared to the metros. Due to better charging
| infra, and low 4W penetration. Basically low penetration
| overall. Of course. Taxis stick to the CNG Dzire, so maruti
| will always appear really high in market share numbers. And
| they have the aspirational SUV owner covered too with Ertiga
| (7 seater for 9L).
| alephnerd wrote:
| Oh yea cities that are Coimbatore, Nagpur, or Ludhiana tier
| have already seen a boom in car (EV or Gas) sales, but the
| main market being targeted now is small towns (think
| Palani, Satara, or Kurkushetra type urban settlements).
|
| Basically, if a Domino's, KFC, Chaayos, Reliance SMART, or
| Motilal Oswal can operate in that district, it has become a
| target market for consumers, and most dealflow is now
| trying to find opportunities to enter that market (eg.
| Lahori Zeera).
| idiotsecant wrote:
| It seems like this is going to be an infrastructure uh oh
| situation when enough consumers manage to get cars.
| alephnerd wrote:
| That's why the Indian government has started subsidizing EV
| bus procurement along with co-financing metro and light
| rail expansion projects. Most Tier 2/3 cities have Metro,
| Light Rail, or BRTS projects that are either active, under
| development, or in the midst of financing.
| graemep wrote:
| Its not just aspirations. Cars are safer and a lot more
| comfortable - especially air-conditioned cars in a hot
| climate.
| alephnerd wrote:
| While safety does play a role, it isn't the primary driver
| of decisions.
|
| For example, if consumers were truly worried about safety,
| most consumers wouldn't drive without seatbelts or car
| seats for minors.
|
| Across Asia - be it India, Vietnam, China, or Korea -
| traditional norms remain strong, and not being able to even
| afford a $4-6k car bodes poorly on your earning power and
| thus your marriageability given that traditional status
| milestones like a 2LDK, kids educated at private school,
| destination tourism, and higher education abroad are
| difficult if you cannot afford that.
| graemep wrote:
| All that is true, but I was not claiming it is the
| primary driver, but that safety and comfort mattered too.
|
| With seatbelts I think the biggest problem is most people
| simply do not understand how much safer you are if you
| wear seatbelts - people who will pay a premium for a
| "safer" car and not wear seatbelts.
|
| I as not familiar with the term 2LDK. it seems to be a
| Japanese term for a two bed flat? The places I know are
| less crowded and the equivalent would be a house or
| somewhere a lot bigger (at least for anyone who could
| afford higher education abroad).
| alephnerd wrote:
| > All that is true, but I was not claiming it is the
| primary driver, but that safety and comfort mattered too.
|
| Absolutely! Though comfort would be rated much higher
| than safety.
|
| > I as not familiar with the term 2LDK. it seems to be a
| Japanese term for a two bed flat? The places I know are
| less crowded and the equivalent would be a house or
| somewhere a lot bigger (at least for anyone who could
| afford higher education abroad).
|
| In India and Vietnam, a 2 or 3 bedroom flat/condo would
| often be part of a gated community/society that includes
| 24/7 security, park/greenspace, gym, swimming pool,
| playgrounds, and schools, and would have a mall across
| the street that includes a mix of Western (eg. McD,
| Starbucks, Levi's) and domestic (eg. Chaayos, Third Wave,
| VinFast) aspirational brands.
|
| A good example would probably be this gated
| community/society [0] in a Tier 3 industrial town called
| Bhiwadi - most residents would be working as Mechanical,
| Automotive, Chemical, Electronics, Tooling,
| Semiconductor, and Automation Engineers or Managers at
| companies like Honda, Tata, Saint-Gobain, Lumax, Maruti
| Suzuki, Motherson, or Sahasra with a take-home in the
| $8-20k range (and with 0% income tax below $13k). This is
| the Indian (and Vietnamese) Dream.
|
| Most of the residents will have studied in regional
| engineering colleges and polytechnics and then started
| off as trainees, and have close familial roots in the
| region, as regional mobility in India is extremely low
| [1], and as such factories have decided to move to small
| towns and Tier 2/3/4 cities in order to be closer to
| labor. You this all over India like in Mysore with
| DigiLens [2], Anantapuram with Hyundai-Kia [3] Baddi with
| AstraZeneca [4], and others. Even in my ancestral
| village, there has been a wind turbine factory operating
| since the mid-2000s that exports to the US and Western
| Europe, and a home-turned-EV battery factory operating
| since the early 2010s that exports to ASEAN.
|
| In Vietnam it's the same story except labor moves _away_
| from small towns to megacities because in much of VN, the
| rural safety net (derisively called "freebies" in India)
| is weak-to-nonexistent pushing labor migration away from
| small towns to Saigon, Hanoi, and Haiphong.
|
| Finally, at $10-20k/year, international education isn't
| that expensive - at that income you can get a loan term
| for US$20k-25k/yr, which is what international tuition
| (including dorm fees) tend to cost in the UK, Australia,
| and Canada - people in the Tier 2 and below middle class
| don't know the difference between Oxford and Oxford
| Brookes, and crap tier universities in the Commonwealth
| take advantage of that (eg. Oxford Brookes and RMIT),
| pissing off domestic students and leading to the
| immigration backlash _and_ pissing off Indians and
| Vietnamese who are starting to view British and
| Australian services as an inferior good. The same thing
| happened in China a decade ago as well.
|
| [0] - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=krPLXO38ZxY
|
| [1] - https://voxdev.org/topic/migration-
| urbanisation/why-labour-m...
|
| [2] - https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20251003VL202/xr-
| optics-kayn...
|
| [3] - https://www.kia.com/in/discover-kia/kia-in-
| india/india-plant...
|
| [4] - https://www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre/press-
| releases/2010...
| carlosjobim wrote:
| I've heard from friends who are into electrical vehicles that
| electrical motorcycles aren't a good option economically, because
| the gas savings are offset by the cost of battery wear and
| battery replacement.
|
| A gas powered motorbike in comparison will run for decades
| without having to do any expensive engine maintenance.
| mallets wrote:
| It's the opposite IME, most petrol two-wheelers are massive
| money sinks past 5 years of ownership. You will likely spend
| close to original price in maintenance and repairs, with most
| models developing "unfixable" issues that massively degrade the
| experience. It doesn't need to be engine related for the costs
| to add up.
|
| Even if the battery craps out after 5 years (extremely
| unlikely), it's a wash. That's before considering the fuel
| savings. Battery degradation is a bit of a meme, we aren't even
| 10 years into mass adoption of EVs for this to be a common
| experience.
| carlosjobim wrote:
| Never had any problem with any bike, except regular
| maintenance which is changing oil, changing chain, and
| changing tires. There aren't physically any parts on a
| motorcycle which could become a "massive money sink" if it
| breaks from normal use.
|
| Are you talking about weird vintage bikes or Harley Davidson
| bikes? Because modern bikes don't have maintenance or factory
| issues.
|
| > Battery degradation is a bit of a meme
|
| Well, what is the explanation then? If there isn't a major
| drawback with electric motorcycles, they would already have
| sold hundreds of millions of units.
|
| Because of no gas cost, cheaper/no maintenance, better
| performance, better riding experience, less noisy. Which
| commuter wouldn't want an electric motorcycle? Are hundreds
| of millions of potential customers in India, Asia and South
| America simply fools who don't have the hacker enlightenment?
| prmoustache wrote:
| Yes the burden of the fuel price is much less on a vehicle that
| sip less than 3L/km
| prmoustache wrote:
| Main issue is having a parking space with a charger and/or having
| to pay for it, and price of the new e-motorcycles.
|
| Charging on the side of the road is a no go with motorcycles. I
| can fill my tank in a few seconds, I wouldn't want to wait more.
| Until I had a way to charge in an indoor space the only
| e-motorcycle I considered was the Silence S02 which has a
| removable battery that you can move as a trolley luggage. But it
| is still heavy, if you have stairs to climb which was my case
| until very recently: game over.
|
| I looked at the market to replace my motorcycle, a 300cc scooter,
| now that I have an indoor parking space where I could in theory
| install a charger. Most japanese brands are very timid, honda
| only produces a 50cc equivalent. BMW and Kawasaki are expensive
| as is Zero motorcycle. To my knowledge Suzuki or Yamaha do not
| produce any.The rest are mostly chinese brands and many of them
| are using pretty much scaled up e-bicycle technology with motor
| in the hub and more importantly zero reliability/service record.
| And you pay the price of a 125 to get the performance and size of
| a 50cc moped.
|
| So basically you have the choice between trusted brands and
| reliable gas powered bikes or do a leap of faith with no
| insurance that it won't be a shitshow like the aliexpress/amazon
| e-bike batteries that randomly catch fire. On paper electric
| stuff should be more reliable but well maintained 125cc bikes
| tend to be rock solid.
| bluebarbet wrote:
| Among all these various factors, not once do you mention the
| wellbeing of _other people_. It is not hyperbole to observe
| that combustion scooters are a scourge on the physical health
| and mental sanity of a billion Indians.
| RationPhantoms wrote:
| While I agree, that's a present devil meaning that it's
| already an accepted way of life. I'm curious how Gogoro's
| model of swapping batteries would fair in the denser Indian
| markets.
| alephnerd wrote:
| Depends region to region.
|
| Once outside Tier 1 cities, density significantly reduces.
| Additionally, the Indian consumer is aspirational, and if
| forced to purchase a new vehicle would prefer a used car
| over a new 2-wheeler.
|
| Anecdotally, in my ancestral village, my relatives
| preferred buying a used Maruti Suzuki for 1 Lakh (roughly
| $1k) instead of spending the equivalent amount on a new
| bike.
|
| In the Vietnamese side of my family, everyone is ignoring
| the recent diktat to upgrade to electronic motorbikes for
| the same reason (why spend almost a year's income to
| purchase a vehicle when inflation for daily staples has
| been high)
|
| I feel there is an opportunity for EV cars, but they face
| stiff competition from Kei/900-1100cc cars that cost around
| $4k-8k.
| prmoustache wrote:
| Sadly the wellbeing of other people is rarely a factor people
| take into account.
| lotsofpulp wrote:
| Probably 1 billion+ people in India have to prioritize their
| own (and their kids') well being, such as securing shelter,
| food, clean water, and safe transportation.
|
| It's a luxury to be able to think about others' well being,
| especially for something with very slow, long term effects.
| It's a luxury to even be able to think about your own well
| being for things that have slow, long term effects.
| erikerikson wrote:
| Not a luxury, a wisdom. Often the biggest shackles are our
| minds.
| troyvit wrote:
| I got to bike around Bhubaneswar, the capital of Odisha, in
| India in 2017, well before this revolution. When you look at
| it from an outsider's perspective it looks like chaos and I
| went in with my typical American mindset, hustling my way
| through the throngs of bikes, pedestrians, mopeds, autos,
| dogs, and cows.
|
| Once I fell into the natural flow of the system the
| experience was much more smooth. There's an organic cadence
| that reminded me of red blood cells bumping around inside
| capillaries.
|
| I wonder how the spike in e2W use has affected that cadence.
| devsda wrote:
| Nothing much to be honest.
|
| The occasional idiot who would zoom past everyone
| dangerously on their new powerful and expensive toy is
| replaced by the idiot who loves to show off the new found
| torque on their ev bike.
|
| The only difference is before you would've heard the idiot
| sneaking up. Now, its a lot more silent and dangerous.
| bluebarbet wrote:
| With respect, this feels to me like romantic paternalism.
| As a cosseted European I spent two months crossing India a
| couple of years back. I travelled only by train, bus and on
| foot. No taxis at all, even rickshaws I mostly avoided. I
| experienced urban India much as average Indians experience
| it. Well, two months was more than enough.
| troyvit wrote:
| I definitely didn't mean for it to come across like that,
| but that's how it impacted you, so there's something to
| what you said that I'll think about. What was your take
| on urban travel in India then?
| jillesvangurp wrote:
| The reason why there are now quite a lot of these things in
| India (and all over Asia) is that the challenges you cite are
| in practice not that big of a deal:
|
| - for most people these things are transportation tools, not
| toys. Performance doesn't really matter all that much. In a big
| Indian city, the maximum speed is determined by the highly
| congested traffic, not the performance of the ebike. Going fast
| is fun but not that essential.
|
| - Many people primarily charge at home, inside their home if
| needed or remove the battery and charge that inside.
|
| - Unless you drive more than 40/50km, the charge is generally
| good enough for a full day. And for more intensive use, there
| are bikes with bigger batteries. Or you can swap in a spare
| battery.
|
| - If it's not enough for the day, you can charge anywhere there
| is a wall socket. Unlike cars, people don't tend to use
| specialized chargers for ebikes. That's pretty much anywhere.
| You might have to pay for the privilege in some places. But
| plug it in during your lunch break or whenever you have a gap
| and you are good to go probably.
|
| - We're talking about less than half a kwh for most ebikes for
| a full charge. It's not going to break the bank. Charging is
| really, really cheap.
|
| - Fuel is not cheap. A large part of Asia is still on incomes
| where that price difference matters; even though especially
| India has a rather large middle and upper class as well these
| days. The cost aspect really matters.
|
| Those cheap bikes you are complaining about: they are really
| cheap. And they kind of work. That's why people are buying
| these things by the millions now.
| yorwba wrote:
| I've seen someone in China charge using a cable dangling out a
| window, so I think charging infrastructure doesn't necessarily
| have to be an issue if you're willing to settle for the minimum
| viable option.
| prmoustache wrote:
| I've seen that in France as well but honestly this is not
| applicable if you live in an appartment in a multistory
| building.
| devsda wrote:
| > Main issue is having a parking space with a charger and/or
| having to pay for it
|
| Agree. New apartments in metros are coming up with shared
| charging spaces but the supposed cost benefit of owning ev is
| offset by high prices at these chargers. Also as ev adoption
| grows, you are only looking at more competition in the future
| for these limited charging slots. Builders for logistical
| reasons or out of just pure greed are really not keen on
| allowing installation of charging points at own parking spots.
|
| This seems to be one of the main challenges to overcome even
| for those who are willing to adopt an ev vehicle.
| joenot443 wrote:
| Range is frequently noted as a limitation for these vehicles,
| which is understandable.
|
| In NYC there's a (somewhat informal) swapping economy where
| riders exchange their dead battery for a charged one. There are
| city run programs and under-the-table ones which are cheaper and
| less guaranteed. This is how people will do 12h DoorDash shifts
| without stopping to charge.
|
| I think it's a pretty interesting idea.
| fwipsy wrote:
| Do you know where I can read more about the battery swapping
| program? I knew china had some sort of program for EVs but this
| is news to me.
| akmittal wrote:
| Honda and few other have launched swapable battery vehicles
| in India too
| joenot443 wrote:
| These[1] are the "official" ones which are actually just in
| the midst of rollout.
|
| The informal ones don't seem to have much web presence, IIRC
| they were mostly setup in and around the e-bike shops in
| lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.
|
| Running the same setup with EVs is a fascinating angle!
|
| [1] https://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/pr2025/install-public-
| e-bi...
| polshaw wrote:
| FWIW Taiwan has had an e-scooter battery swap system for a
| decade; Gogoro
| hacker_88 wrote:
| Gogoro might be useful
| danans wrote:
| For me, the more exciting phenomenon is the electric _3_ wheeler,
| AKA the electric auto-rikshaw /tuk-tuk.
|
| Hired 3 wheelers are the primary affordable last-mile option in
| cities big and small in Asia when you don't have or can't drive a
| car or 2-wheeler (school children, the elderly, or anyone who
| doesn't want to deal with the insane traffic). They tend to have
| 2-stroke engines, a huge source of local air pollution.
|
| But there are increasingly electric versions these days. I asked
| one e-rickshaw driver whether he saves money by driving it, and
| he said yes, but also it's a lot more comfortable for both him
| and his customers vs the vibrations of the 2 stroke petrol
| engine.
|
| His only concern was the depreciation and it's effect on resale
| value.
| unmole wrote:
| > They tend to have 2-stroke engines
|
| Where in Asia are 2-stroke engines for still common?
| danans wrote:
| I shouldn't have used the word "tend", but there are still
| many 2-stroke auto-rickshaws in India. I saw (and smelled)
| them a year ago. That said, I know many cities in India have
| banned them, and they are not in production anymore.
|
| Having been in an electric rickshaw, I will take them over a
| combustion one (2 or 4-stroke) if I have a choice. I hope
| that the economics in India reach the tipping point where
| they are the obvious choice for rickshaw drivers.
| tibbydudeza wrote:
| Pity the Tata Nano failed in India.
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