Several senior industry executives ET spoke to said customer clinics have pointed to several issues with electric two-wheelers made by startups. These range from lack of reliable servicing centres to scarce charging stations.Legacy two-wheeler makers such as Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, TVS Motor Company and Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) are bolstering their sales and service networks ahead of the launch of nearly a dozen electric scooters targeting the mainstream market over the next few months.
The move is likely to intensify their battle with startups such as Ola Electric, Ather Energy and Ampere to win new customers in this fast-growing market. So far, most of the legacy manufacturers were targeting the premium end of the two-wheeler EV market.
People said Hero, TVS, Bajaj and Honda together are set to roll out about 10 EV models by the middle of 2025. Their robust foray comes at a time when consumers have been venting dissatisfaction with EV two-wheelers launched by several startups both in terms of product quality and service network. Of late, market leader Ola Electric has been under fire for a slew of consumer complaints related to poor after-sales service, software glitches and hardware problems with its scooters.
Several senior industry executives ET spoke to said customer clinics have pointed to several issues with electric two-wheelers made by startups. These range from lack of reliable servicing centres to scarce charging stations.
“I would refrain from commenting on competition, but it is important to understand customers and customer service. There's a physicality to customer service that's required. As Hero, we are into every nook and corner of the country, and therefore we have an advantage there,” Niranjan Gupta, CEO, Hero MotoCorp told ET, adding the company has set up 3,100 fast charging stations and over 500 service centres to ease customer anxiety.
The cumulative share of startups — Ola, Ather and Greaves Electric (Ampere) — in the domestic electric two-wheeler market declined to 60.8% in the first 11 months of 2024, from 70.6% a year earlier. The share of legacy two-wheeler makers rose by 10% to 39.2% in the same period. The share of legacy two-wheelers in the EV segment was even higher at 51% in November, compared to 37% in the year-ago period.
Hero, which earlier this month took the covers off Vida V2, plans to drive in an additional electric scooter model in the mass segment by March.
Gupta added the company is working on bringing in aspirational products at affordable prices. “In EVs, you have to be cost competitive, and I think there our scale advantage will come into play,” he said.
Meanwhile, HMSI is gearing up to commence sale of two electric scooters - Activa e and QC1 - in the new year.
“The most important aspect (for EV adoption) is trust, buying a product they (customers) can rely on. We understand that there are a lot of pain points for EV customers in the market; they are not really happy with the kind of products available,” said Yogesh Mathur, director (sales and marketing), HMSI. “So, from our side, we are making sure that our strategy is very clear in terms of establishing a service network prior to the sales network.”
HMSI is installing battery swapping stations every 5 km in Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai to ease range anxiety for its customers opting for the Activa e, which features swappable battery technology. The company plans to introduce the QC1 electric scooter modelwhich has a fixed battery set-up, across half of the addressable EV market in the country, along with a robust service network, over the next one year.
HMSI, the last remaining legacy two-wheeler maker to foray into the electric space, said it does not think it is a late entrant in the segment. “The market (for electric scooters) is still at a nascent stage, at 6% penetration. And we are coming in not only with one model. We are coming in with the complete ecosystem,” Mathur said, noting that the priority is to gain customer trust.
TVS Motor Company, which has the second largest share in the electric two-wheeler space, has firmed up more launches in the March quarter to further strengthen its footprint in the EV segment.
K N Radhakrishnan, CEO, TVS Motor, said the company is seeing good customer acceptance for its products in the EV space.
“We are very confident we will grow better than the industry going forward. We are well-planned for the product line-up for electric mobility. You will be witnessing some more launches during this financial year,” Radhakrishnan said recently.
