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Electric vehicles are no longer just a buzz word but a slowly changing reality in today’s two wheeler market. Albeit still minuscule in comparison to the sales of combustion vehicles they are steadily catching the attention of consumers.

The two wheeler segment as one would expect is seeing a much quicker and early adoption in the EV space. This coupled with the government of India’s recent subsidy increase under the FAME II scheme has further incentivised consumers to look more keenly to this greener mode of transportation.

FAME which stands for Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and EV is a GoI’s plan to inculcate a greater degree of adoption of EVs in India.

Introduced in April 2019 with a budget outlay of Rs 10,000 crore it was to support 7,000 e-buses, 5,00,000 e-three-wheelers, 55,000 e-passenger vehicles and a million e-two-wheelers. The government of India recently extended the scheme till March 2024 and more importantly increased the benefit offered from Rs 10,000 per kWh to Rs 15,000 per kWh thereby marking a hike of 50 percent.  

State governments too are jumping in and bringing out their own state specific schemes and benefits to motivate customers switch to the EV bandwagon. The state of Andhra Pradesh too is in the process of getting out a new EV policy.

So with all the incentives and policies being offered we at Vizag Industrial Scan spoke to some of the key players in this market to get an overall idea of the two wheeler EV segment in AP.

‘I believe that the EV market is here to stay and has a vibrant future’ said Mr Shyam Prasad of Sree Prasad Motors, a dealer of Hero EVs in the city.

In fact with zooming gasoline prices there couldn’t be a better reason to switch to EVs.

Agrees Mr Nallamilli Venkata Reddy founder and CEO of Vihaan Electrix a dealer of Pure EV and says ‘At the current market price (of fuel) an EV owner can save about Rs. 1 lakh over a 3 year period’.

There is no denying that consumer interests are certainly translating into sales. ‘We on an average get 250 + inquiries a month’ said Mr Venkata.

Pure EV has multiple dealerships across the state and claims to have sold 2300 vehicles between Jan 2021 and September 1st week.

EV scooters prices typically range from approximately Rs 60,000 to 150,000 and come with a 3 year warranty.

Mr Sudhakar Nagalapati of SN Auto a dealer of the Ather EV brand reiterates growing consumer interest and demand. ‘Just from a single branch we are clocking sales of 200 vehicles a month’

‘Ather as a company on a whole has a production capacity of 1 lakh vehicles a month which can be ramped up to 5 lakhs’ informed Mr Sudhakar.

Although there is no confirmed figure of the total two wheeler EV sales in AP, industry sources put that number anywhere between 3000 and 4000 per month.

Limited Production

An issue that seems to be hindering sales is limited production from certain OEMs.

‘There is a glaring issue of supply/stocks. OEMs aren’t ready with enough stocks. I can easily sell 150 EV scooters a month if supplied with ample stocks. I already have 170 paid orders for which deliveries have yet to be made’ said Mr Shyam.

Charging Stations

Another issue that is most often talked about in this space is the desperate need of having supporting Infrastructure i.e. Battery charging points. While some EVs are equipped with removable batteries which can be taken to a point for charging others don’t have removable batteries hence the need for fixed charging stations across localities.

‘We have 25 charging stations across the city and are going to ramp this up soon’ said Mr Venkata who owns another company called V Energy which caters to Battery charging infrastructure.

Similarly Mr Sudhakar says that they currently have 6 charging stations in Vizag and that another 14 are on the anvil. Stakeholders also call for uniformity in charging stations. As Mr Shyam puts it ‘As in the case of your petrol vehicle which can be fuelled at any gas station similarly all EV charging stations should be adaptable to any brand of EVs’.