Bajaj Auto ahead of TVS in e-2W sales in first-half July, Ather moves up to No. 3

The electric two-wheeler industry, which saw near-300,000 zero-emission scooters, motorcycles and mopeds sold in the first quarter of FY2026, up 34% YoY, is maintaining the same strong vein of growth. Between July 1-15, 2025, as per the latest retail sales numbers on the Vahan portal, a total of 45,619 units were sold. Interestingly, as the data depicts at this stage of the month, Bajaj Auto has moved into the lead while TVS Motor Co, which has topped e-2W retails for three months in a row, is currently in second place.

Bajaj Auto finds itself in the lead after a gap of three months, having topped e-2W sales in February (21,563 units) and March 2025 (35,160 units), but lost the No. 1 ranking to TVS Motor Co in April, May and June. In the first 15 days of July, 9,919 Bajaj Chetaks have been delivered to customers. This is a slender lead of 505 units over TVS’ 9,414 units but a lead nevertheless. It remains to be seen if it holds onto the lead in the second half of this month.

What would have helped drive demand is the June 17 launch of the Chetak 3001, the new entry-level variant priced at Rs 99,990 (ex-showroom Bengaluru). The 3001 replaces the erstwhile Chetak 2903. Like its nomenclature – the 3001 and the 35 series – the four-variant Chetak model range comprises two battery configurations. The 3001, the smallest with 3 kWh and a 127km range, will replace the Chetak 2903 variant.

While the base 3001 variant costs Rs 99,990 (ex-showroom Bengaluru), the top-end Chetak 3501 has a price sticker of Rs 135,000. The 3001, the most affordable Chetak, slots between the TVS iQube 2.2 kWh and iQube 3.5 kWh at the lower end, and the premium Ather Rizta S at the higher end.

TVS Motor Co, which topped the e-2W chart for three straight months – April, May and June 2025 – sold 9,414 iQubes in the July 1-15 period. What would have given iQube sales a boost is TVS Motor Co slashing prices by up to Rs 26,000 and also increasing the battery capacities of some variants.

The battery capacity of the base variant of the iQube, iQube S and iQube ST has been increased by 0.1 kWh and now has a claimed riding range of 145km per charge. The iQube S and iQube ST come with a fast 950W charger, which means a 0-80% top-up takes just three hours. While the S variant (Rs 140,000) receives a 0.1 kWh bump up to 3.5 kWh, the lower version of the higher-spec ST iQube also gets the same 3.5 kWh battery pack upgrade. The higher ST variant now houses a 5.3 kWh battery, up 0.2kWh, and is priced at Rs 159,000 (ex-showroom). Design upgrades include beige-coloured inner panels, dual-tone seat, and a pillion back-rest. The enhanced features list now includes a touchscreen display, turn-by-turn navigation and tyre pressure monitoring.

Ather Energy, with 7,480 e-scooters sold in the first half of this month, has taken No. 3 position and is just 118 units ahead of Ola Electric. Whether it maintains the lead in the remaining 16 days of the July remains to be seen though. The company, whose flagship e-scooter the Rizta surpassed 100,000 sales within two years since launch, remains its key growth driver and is understood to currently contribute nearly 60% of the EV startup’s total sales. This is creditable given that the three-variant flagship scooter is a premium product priced from Rs 104,999 (Rizta S) to Rs 122,000 (Rizta Z 2.9) and to Rs 142,000 (Rizta Z 3.7).

While the Rizta S version (2.9 kWh battery) has a 123km range, the Z variant (3.7 kWh) has a 160km range. The Rizta’s highlights include the largest two-wheeler seat in India and storage space aplenty. The Ather Rizta was the winner of Autocar India’s Electric Two-Wheeler of the Year 2025 award.

Ola Electric, at this stage of the month, is in fourth position with 7,362 units. Growing demand for its e-scooters and e-motorcycles should see it recover momentum in the second half of July. The bulk of Ola’s sales come from the 14-variant S1 e-scooter, which straddles multiple price-points starting from entry level mass mobility through to premium (Rs 65,000 to Rs 170,000). The S1 Pro, equipped with a 4kWh battery, has a claimed 142km range on a single charge and has an ex-showroom price of Rs 154,999.

In May this year, Ola began customer deliveries of its Roadster X electric motorcycle. The company is targeting strong growth with the X, what the ICE motorcycle market being much bigger than scooters. The Ola Roadster X, which develops peak power of 11 kW, top speed of 125kph and has a range of 501km, is claimed to offer “15X lower running cost than comparable ICE models”. Roadster X first-in-segment features include ABS, cruise control, advanced regen, reverse mode, and advanced safety tech including geo and time fencing, theft detection, and ‘Find Your Vehicle’.

Hero MotoCorp, which launched the Vida VX2 at an amazing price of Rs 59,490 under the Battery-as-a-Service option on July 1, is clearly benefiting from customer demand for the new e-scooter. At 3,987 units (Vida 2 and Vida VX2) sold between July 1-15, the company seems to be on track to achieve its best-ever monthly retails yet this month.

Along with a flexible ‘pay-as-you-go’ ownership model, the BaaS subscription solution significantly reduces the upfront ownership cost, making electric mobility more affordable and accessible to a wider customer base. Vida EV buyers will be able to choose from flexible subscription plans tailored to their daily or monthly budget and usage along with access to Vida’s growing all-India ecosystem which already includes over 3,600 fast-charging stations and 500-plus service points across over 100 cities.

Greaves Electric Mobility (GEM), the EV arm of Greaves Cotton, has delivered 1,794 of its e-scooters to customers. The company has a six-model portfolio of e-scooters comprising the Nexus, Primus, Magnus LT/EX (100km+ range), Ampere Magnus Special, entry level Rio Li/La Plus and Zeal EX.

The Ampere Nexus, GEM’s e-scooter launched a year ago in April 2024, is a key growth driver. Targeted at families, the Ampere Nexus has been designed and developed in-house at the Ranipet facility in Tamil Nadu. Earlier this month, GEM announced that it is offering a 5-year / 75,000km battery warranty across all Nexus variants. Alongside, Ampere Vehicles has rolled out an affordable financing scheme with the lowest down payment and interest rates starting at 6.99 percent. The Ampere Nexus, whose ex-showroom prices start at Rs 114,900, delivers a real-world range of 100-110km, achieved a top speed of 93kph, and a charging time of 3 hours and 22 minutes.

Bgauss Auto, the Pune-based start-up, takes seventh rank with 836 units. River Mobility, the Bengaluru-based electric scooter start-up, is witnessing growing sales traction for its sole product, the River Indie which has sold 702 units in first-half July. While E-Sprinto Green Energy (582 units) takes ninth rank, Pur Energy wraps up the Top 10 e-2W manufacturers list with 578 units.

The overall e-2W market, which has around 210 players, remains the preserve of six players – TVS, Bajaj Auto, Ola Electric, Ather Energy, Hero MotoCorp and Greaves Electric Mobility – who between them account for 39,956 units or an 87% share of total sales of 45,619 units, reflecting just where the market strength lies.

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