India is the world’s biggest two-wheeler market but that is not the case when it comes to electric two-wheelers. The first electric scooter in India was launched in 2006 by Electrotherm, a Gujarat based company, under the brand name ‘YO bykes’. Yo bikes were 100% powered by electricity and required no fuel. Since then other manufacturers like Hero Electric and Okinawa launched their series of electric scooters, upfilling the market with various models varying in range and top speeds.
Journey of electric bikes in India
While Hero Electric launched their first electric scooter way back in 2007, till date Hero Electric has sold 2,00,000 electric scooters and electric cycles, making a major impact on India’s EV industry. The major problems faced by electric vehicles include the range anxiety and lack of charging infrastructure. Initially, electric two-wheelers used lead-acid batteries as power-cells, limiting both range and charging time. Latest developments in Lithium-ion has proven to be more reliable and cheaper, hence we can expect upcoming electric bikes to be powered by Lithium-ion.
Future of Electric Bikes in India
After governments push for getting ‘all electric’, many new startups and companies are getting into the race to launch their electric bikes in India. This new startups include Ather Energy, Tork Motorcycles, Twenty Two motors, Emflux etc. Ather Energy has already launched their smartest electric scooters in India Ather 340 and Ather 450. Tork T6X will be the first electric motorcycles, from a Pune based startup Tork Motorcycles.
Twenty-Two Motors has also launched their electric scooter ‘Flow’ and will undergo production soon. A Bangalore based startup Emflux motors will be launching its so-called first electric superbike ‘Emflux One’ next year. This bike is said to go 200 km in a single charge and can boost 0-100 kmph in just 3 seconds.
Even other automotive giants like TVs and Piaggio has declared their plans to launch electric scooters in India in the coming years. With such an upsurge of electric bikes in the market, the EV segment of India is expected to get a boost. There is no doubt that India will emerge as the driver of electric vehicles as PM Modi said earlier.
