Structural constraints hinder ebikes' adoption: OEMs to NITI Aayog

Electric motorcycles lag in India due to high financing costs, charging gaps and R&D hurdles, OEMs tell Niti Aayog, seeking long-term policy clarity and support

Major two-wheeler manufacturers told the NITI Aayog during a meeting held a few months ago that the near-absence of electric motorcycles (ebikes) in India was not due to weak demand but a set of structural constraints ranging from high financing costs and unviable charging economics to product limitations and policy gaps that were discouraging companies from launching and scaling such models, Business Standard has learnt. 

Major companies such as Hero MotoCorp, Ather Energy, Ola Electric, Royal Enfield, Matter Motor, Raptee.HV, OdysseEV, and Gravton Motors participated in this meeting, according to government and industry officials familiar with the matter. 

These original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), during the meeting, said access to finance remains one of the biggest bottlenecks for ebikes. Large banks, they said, remain reluctant to offer retail loans for such vehicles while smaller lenders that do step in charge interest rates as high as 21 per cent, significantly raising the upfront cost for consumers. 

On the supply side, manufacturers flagged a shortage of working capital and said existing incentive frameworks (production linked incentive, or PLI, etc) tend to favour large, established players, leaving startups and smaller OEMs at a disadvantage when attempting to scale up beyond research and development (R&D) into mass-market production. They suggested that government-backed OEM consortia and more equitable financial schemes for both demand and supply could help address these gaps. 

Charging infrastructure emerged as another critical constraint during the discussion. OEMs said e-bikes require access to “dense” networks of public fast-chargers, but current public charging tariffs — estimated at around ₹25 per unit — make the total cost of ownership unviable compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) motorcycles. A lack of standardisation adds to the problem, with chargers performing poorly below 240V and not matching global standards, which reduces compatibility and makes charging less convenient for users. 

On the technology and product front, two-wheeler makers told the NITI Aayog that simply increasing battery sizes to meet range expectations is not a sustainable solution due to cost and weight constraints. Electric motorcycles, they said, are inherently heavier than electric scooters, and require significantly larger batteries — typically between 3 kilowatt-hour (kwh) and 10 kwh, compared to 3 kwh to 5 kwh for scooters — pushing up costs and affecting ride dynamics. 

Despite visible consumer interest, particularly in higher-capacity segments where buyers are more open to experimenting with new technologies, there are few electric motorcycles available in the market right now, OEMs admitted. At the same time, consumers expect near parity with ICE motorcycles on both range and pricing, with expectations of around 250 km per charge at price points close to ₹1 lakh, compared to current offerings that deliver roughly 100 km at prices closer to ₹1.5 lakh. 

Manufacturers also raised concerns about the structure of R&D incentives. While schemes such as those under the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) support early-stage research, OEMs said they offer limited assistance for commercialisation and scaling. They argued that companies developing new e-bike platforms should be able to access the Department of Science and Technology’s Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) scheme to bridge the gap between laboratory development and market-ready products. 

Low consumer awareness was flagged as another major hurdle, particularly at the dealership level, where misconceptions about e-bikes persist. OEMs said range anxiety and higher upfront costs continue to deter buyers, alongside strong brand loyalties in the motorcycle segment. They suggested that awareness campaigns need to be more targeted and segmented, focusing on specific user groups such as women riders, students, and last-mile delivery personnel, rather than relying on generic messaging. Government-led public campaigns, they added, could play a key role in accelerating acceptance. 

NITI Aayog, in an analysis done before this meeting, had similarly flagged deep-rooted technological and economic challenges facing electric motorcycles, noting that complex R&D requirements significantly raise costs and that the absence of global price-sensitive reference models forces Indian OEMs to build platforms largely from scratch.

 

It had said current electric motorcycle technology struggles to simultaneously deliver power, speed, and range comparable to ICE models at competitive prices.

 

Takeaways from the meet

 

OEMs said during the meeting with the NITI Aayog that government adoption could play a catalytic role in creating early demand. Procurement of electric motorcycles by police, defence forces, and ecommerce fleets, along with scrappage and exchange programmes for older ICE motorcycles, could help accelerate adoption and provide the scale needed to make e-bikes commercially viable in India. 

On policy front, some two-wheeler makers said existing incentive schemes are not designed with motorcycles in mind and thus fail to adequately differentiate them from scooters and other electric vehicles. At the same time, a few others cautioned that a narrow push focusing only on e-bikes could inadvertently hurt the electric scooter segment, which currently anchors the market. 

OEMs called for a “long-term” and “consistent policy road map” to provide confidence for investment decisions, warning that rigid technical mandates could be counterproductive. A more effective approach, they said, would be to set outcome-based goals, such as the number of chargers required, rather than prescribing detailed technical specifications. 

Key bottlenecks

• High financing costs and limited retail credit deter buyers
• Larger batteries raise costs and weight versus scooters
• R&D incentives weak on commercialisation, scaling
• Incentive schemes favour large OEMs, disadvantaging startups
• Public fast-charging networks lack density for motorcycle use
• Dealer-level awareness gaps reinforce range anxiety