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Electric scooters now 24.1% of scooter sales, up from 16.8% in FY24, says BCG; 43% of buyers consider EVs
A Boston Consulting Group report says electric two-wheeler penetration reached 9.9% in FY27 so far, up from 5.5% in FY24, and electric scooters 24.1%, up from 16.8%. Some 43% of two-wheeler buyers now consider an EV for their next purchase. September retail sales of electric two-wheelers rose 88.7%.
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Electric scooters now account for 24.1 per cent of scooters sold in India, up from 16.8 per cent in FY24, according to a report by the Boston Consulting Group titled 'Electric in Charge: How India's Electric Two-Wheelers Are Moving into the Mainstream'. Across all two-wheelers, the share of electric models reached 9.9 per cent in the current financial year to the end of August, up from 5.5 per cent in FY24. The report was published on Monday, 26 October.
The main numbers
The report's key findings are:
- electric scooter sales grew at a compound annual rate of 54 per cent between FY22 and FY26, which is more than three times the growth of petrol scooters, at 16 per cent;
- about 1.8 lakh Indians buy their first electric two-wheeler each month;
- the number of electric two-wheeler models has risen by about 30 per cent since 2023, and the number of electric motorcycle models has doubled;
- five brands hold about 83 per cent of the market.
The report does not give a penetration figure for electric motorcycles, which are the harder part of the market for the technology.
Buyers are warming up
The survey part of the report is based on 1,600 respondents from different regions, income levels and age groups, who included existing electric and petrol buyers and prospective customers. About 55 per cent of them were from rural areas and from tier 2, 3 and 4 markets. It found that 43 per cent were actively considering an electric two-wheeler for their next purchase within six months, up from 30 per cent in 2024. The share of those who rejected the idea outright fell to 29 per cent from 38 per cent, and the share of those who were open to electric but unlikely to buy within six months fell to 28 per cent from 32 per cent.
The report divides buyers into ten groups, arguing that the purpose and distance of travel matter more than age or income. In the group that it calls 'Convenience Above All', positive views rose on looks (59 per cent against 30 per cent), pickup (48 per cent against 27 per cent) and trust in popular brands (46 per cent against 28 per cent). Owners said that running costs, storage, comfort, manoeuvrability and digital features met or beat their expectations.
The concerns are long-term durability, the ability to cope with rough roads and the suitability of the vehicles for highways. Because many owners have had their vehicles for a short time, there is little evidence of how the batteries and parts hold up over the years. The report advises makers to build products around the needs of particular customers and not just price, technology or vehicle type, and to improve the ownership experience through servicing, battery warranties, insurance and support for resale or exchange.
Separate data from the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations show how quickly the market is growing. Retail sales of electric two-wheelers rose 88.7 per cent from a year earlier to 2,07,314 units in September 2026, and their share of all two-wheeler retail sales was 11.6 per cent, against 8.2 per cent a year earlier. Different sources measure the share differently, and one market data site puts the share of electric models at about 7 per cent in the year to July, so figures from different reports cannot be compared directly.
Two-wheelers are the biggest part of India's vehicle market, and fuel used by scooters and motorbikes is a large share of petrol demand. A shift to electric models cuts that demand and the oil import bill, a point that has more weight when crude is above $110 a barrel. The same week the government has approved E100 fuel for flex-fuel vehicles, which shows that it is backing more than one route to cut oil use.
The next test is whether the growth lasts as petrol rivals compete on price, and whether the makers can win the buyers who are still on the fence. For a household weighing a purchase, the practical advice in the report is to look at the cost over the whole period of ownership, to ask about battery warranties and to check how easily the vehicle can be serviced nearby.
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