- During the times when the world is mourning about the degrading the environment, the need for e-Scooters is catching the hype.
- Realizing this, a number of start-ups have stepped forward to cater to the need.
I’m pretty sure you have seen a number of cycles and e-Scooter stand around CP and other busy streets. e-Scooters in India is the new hype. Not only eScooters but electronic vehicles overall have caught the attention of automobile manufacturers in India and around the world.
Who Are Major Players in the e-Scooter Market?
Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, TVS, Mahindra & Mahindra, Ather Energy, Hero Electric are some renowned players in producing e-Scooters in India.
“EV makers have been doing a good job of localizing components and traditional companies have localized heavily. But the most important piece, cells are still being imported.” Commented by an auto industry executive.
While the EV makers are still on their growth path, they are still on the phase to come up with a product that’s not only acceptable by the mass but its journey of production is also a smooth one.
Most EV makers use lithium-ion battery packs that are coming from electronic giants like Samsung, LG, Panasonic and some other Chinese manufacturers due to lack of production capacity in the country.
“While components can be taken care of to some extent, at least in the short run as manufacturers usually keep 2-3 months stocks, batteries or battery cells, on the other hand are imported in small batches since they come with a limited warranty.” – Sohinder Gill, CEO of Hero Electric.
Bajaj Chetak V/s Ather’s 450X :
Costing around ₹1 lakh the scooter offers 85-95 km range depending on its rider mode. The response has been overwhelming and the company claims that bookings have crossed expectations.
Then comes the dashing genZ start-up – Ather Energy. The start-up elevated with their Ather 450 e-Scooter to such a level that even manufacturers like Bajaj and TVS are still catching up.
You can have a look at the comparison of both the e-Scooters in India.
Hero Electric Scooters:
Hero Electric is said to be the largest seller of e-Scooters in India. Naveen Munjal, MD at Hero Electric, released a press statement with a headline stating that Hero Electric puts on hold investment of up to ₹700 crores for the year.
Avera Retrosa:
It comes from the land of Andhra Pradesh, Amravati, as of now it’s only AP and Telangana where the company is selling its e-Scooters in India.
The price of this e-Scooter is somewhere around ₹1.08 lakh (ex-showroom price) and so far, reviews have been pretty decent.
Click here to view its product review.
PureEV’s – ePluto 7G:
Launched in Hyderabad by the regional company – PureEV. This e-Scooter in India dates back since 2018 which is a low-speed scooter that does not come with license and registration.
This e-Scooter was rated 8.6/10 with key features like – made in India battery, having decent suspension along with handling and stability.
The list doesn’t end here. E-Scooters in India are said to have more than 20 manufacturers and many more are to join the race very soon.
What are the Benefits of Having e-Scooters in India?
Did you check the prices of petrol/diesel? Or ever tried to track down prices of the 2 non-renewable resources year-on-year?
If you did, I’m sure you would have noticed that at any given point of time, prices might reach a sky-high level but it takes a lot of time to get down to normal.
With this observation, one thing is clear that it’s not at all wrong to have an electric vehicle (along with diesel/petrol vehicle). It will save you from the burden of burning natural resources while you travel short-distances in your locality.
Let’s find out the probable benefits of e-Scooters in India apart from the fact that they help us save petrol/diesel costs.
1. The energy required to propel the e-Scooter:
e-Scooters in India (along with other EVs) are 3 times more efficient than combustion engines and moving a person on 30-50 lb. These environmentally friendly scooters take a fraction of the energy compared to 3000-4000 lb. car or SUV.
Even if the batteries of e-Scooters in India are powered by a grid that relies on fossil fuels, emissions per mile from the electricity generation is negligible.
2. Emissions Oozing from Manufacturing e-Scooters:
Though India still depends on imports of crucial parts of e-Scooters in India, the overall manufacturing scenario shifted from using cheap personal use e-Scooters, to e-Scooters optimized for sharing, with greater durability and efficiency.
It’s one of the fastest evolving transportation segments today and determining the overall environmental impact can be complicated.
While producing e-Scooters in India can increase their individual manufacturing emission, this is usually more than offset by the fact that better product durability enables longer lifetimes and more trips before disposal or recycling.
Will e-Scooters in India be Smoothly Integrated with The Current Ecosystem?
This factor entirely depends upon the perception of users, and how well they are able to perceive the EV carmakers. It is not an easy job to make people shift from using fossil fuel emissions to a totally rechargeable vehicle.
While the new generation is open to experiment with e-Scooters in India, it might be difficult for our parents and elders to try the vehicles.
Summing Up:
While the entire automobile industry is facing a downfall, Electric Vehicles came as a savior. Almost all the automobile giants are not entering the EV sector along with a number of regional start-ups.
While the Indian roads are still crowded with traditional bikes and scooters (that run on fossil fuels) e-Scooters in India are still to see the growth in its sector.
But genZ and wise riders know the importance of electric vehicles which is why industry experts, government as well as carmakers are putting their bets on e-Scooters in India.
