The Indian EV market in India has many options now with more than 150 startups in the electric vehicle industry. It’s truly a source of pride for India to build such a vast infrastructure and availabilities of electric vehicles within just a span of 2-3 years. Still, you may be surprised to know, no automobile giant is involved in this revolution except Tata. If we specifically talk about the electric 2-Wheeler market, the legacy players hardly have a pinch of the market capitalization until now. Companies like TVS, Bajaj, Hero Moto Corp, etc. gave their attempts to crack the electric 2-W market but it looks like they are failing miserably in this. But again it’s really great seeing startups charging up this EV revolution, this progressing startup eco-system in India will not just grow EV space rapidly by destructing monopoly but also bring innovation culture to the country.
But things on-ground aren’t really as charming as it looks instead the condition is more like chaos in the EV market. The only company that cracked the code and is providing their customers with an absolutely excellent product, as well as after-service, is Ather Energy. The rest of the EV makers even those at the top are receiving negative reviews and poor after-service. Most of this is due to the companies selling products with the least research and almost importing the readymade technology and product from the Chinese market.
Here let’s see some of the companies that are selling poor-quality Chinese electric 2-wheelers in India.
1. Okinawa Autotech:
This is an Indian company that’s selling non-Indian electric vehicles to the Indian audience. Can you imagine the effortlessness of the company that it didn’t use its creativity to even select a good brand name that at least does not sound foreign. Let’s just somehow avoid that and throw some light on the facts, electric scooters that Okinawa sells can easily be available on any Chinese EV-selling website and even you can buy those scooters and import them to India in bulk. On top of that Okinawa has been under the watch of many government bodies that consider the company accuses of misleading government policies. But despite all the misleading, it’s on the top of the most selling EVs in the month.
2. Hero Electric:
Hero Electric is one of the most reputed EV makers in India. With its wide portfolio of electric scooters, it always has an EV in its inventory for each market segment that’s under 1 Lakh. One of the most popular electric scooters them is Hero Optima, Hero Photon, and NYX. But this company also came under government radar when one of its electric scooters Hero Atria was identified as an exact replica of an electric scooter available on a Chinese website for sale. Hero electric had a controversy with the company Hero Motocop. By using the brand name Hero. Now it’s the watch of the government for misuse the government subsidies.
3. Komaki:
This is just another electric scooter brand that’s famous among mid-segment EV buyers in India. The company usually sells low-speed and cheap electric scooters and holds a significant market cap in its segment. But just like most, it didn’t bring any innovation despite just copy pasted the Chinese electric scooters for the Indian market.
4. Kabira Mobility:
This is another EV startup that came into the limelight due to its premium electric sports bike KM 3000 and KM 4000. The company has a wide portfolio from high speed high electric vehicles to delivery scooters. Recently it got into the news for providing its electric bikes to Goa Police, to promote electric vehicles government took this decision and added Kabira Mobility electric bikes into their fleet.
This startup is not any different from Chinese doppelgangers, they sell Chinese electric scooters in the Indian EV market. This name isn’t really widespread in the market but has a great influence in the domestic market.
5. Revolt RV 400:
Many of you may shock hearing this but Revolt Motors, which enabled Indians to experience a fully built electric bike first in India, is selling Chinese electric bikes. One of the Chinese electric vehicle brands Super Soco has the same bike as Revolt RV 400. However, the Revolt Motors CEO clarified in one of its interviews that, both Super Soco and Revolt Motors are collaborating to make electric bikes. But the main thing to note here is, literally, each Revolt RV 400 owner is facing after-service problems with Revolt Motors electric bikes and people are pissed off of this electric bike brand.
The RV 400 is just a copy-paste electric bike from China with the least R&D and testing, and mind you, being Revolt RV 400 owner myself I’m telling you the on-ground report of Revolt electric bikes.
6. Tunwal:
With electric scooters, this company also has a cruise electric motorcycle which gives it a unique place in the market, but as expected all EVs are from a Chinese brand
7. Battre
8. M2GO
9. Banling Aura
10. Odysse Electric
Such Chinese vehicles will capture the EV market?
Many electric scooter brands in India and others will come because they are selling. Such electric scooters have a large chunk of the Indian EV 2 Wheeler market which isn’t good for India. India has already witnessed a such pattern in the smartphone market, isn’t it strange, the mobile phone market is so incredibly high in India, and yet not even a single Indian brand can crack this industry? But with ambitious and strict government policies and regulations, Indian start-ups like Ola Electric, Ather Energy, Bounce Infinity, Ultraviollete, Tork Motors, etc. will eventually take over Chinese doppelgangers.
Conclusion:
Chinese EV importers are weakening the Indian start-up eco-system and automobile industry. Such electric scooters are just a temporary substitute for electric scooters until a successful EV eco-system would be created in India as in the long run only quality and cost-effectiveness will eventually win. But here we’ve compiled a list of electric scooter brands that are rotting the very base of the electric vehicle empire that’s yet in the making.
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