Electric Scooters Enter Mainstream, Motorcycles Remain a Challenge: Ather CBO

As many as 85% of prospective scooter buyers are willing to consider an electric vehicle before making a purchase, according to a consumer study cited by Ather Energy Chief Business Officer Ravneet Phokela, indicating growing acceptance of electric scooters even as battery life, resale value and servicing remain concerns.

Speaking at the Autocar Professional’s India EV Conclave 2026 on Tuesday, Phokela said electric scooters have moved well ahead of motorcycles in adoption, making it important to distinguish between the two segments rather than assess the electric two-wheeler market through a single penetration figure.

He said electric scooters accounted for approximately 25% of scooter sales in the market snapshot he cited, while overall electric two-wheeler penetration stood at around 11-11.5%, reflecting the substantially lower adoption of electric motorcycles.
"One in four people today are buying electric scooters," Phokela said during a panel discussion on making EVs mainstream.

Referring to a consumer brand-tracking study conducted about five months earlier, he said respondents planning to purchase a scooter within six months were asked which brands they would consider, without specifying petrol or electric vehicles.
"85% of people said they will actively consider an EV before they buy a scooter," he said.

The study classified respondents as potential EV buyers if they included an electric two-wheeler brand among those they would consider. The figure therefore measures consumer consideration rather than confirmed purchase intentions or actual conversions.

The findings come as India's electric two-wheeler market continues to expand. According to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), electric two-wheeler retail sales rose nearly 89% year-on-year to 207,314 units in September 2026, with penetration increasing to 11.58% from 8.17% a year earlier.

More recent VAHAN registration data showed electric scooters accounting for approximately 33% of total scooter registrations in September, compared with 22% a year earlier.

A separate study released by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) on October 26 found that 43% of surveyed two-wheeler consumers were considering an electric vehicle for their next purchase, up from 30% in 2024. Unlike Ather's scooter-focused study, the BCG research covered the broader two-wheeler market, including motorcycles.

Battery Warranty, Resale Transparency Address Ownership Concerns

Phokela acknowledged that concerns about battery durability, range, servicing and resale value remain barriers to wider adoption, but said manufacturers were increasingly addressing these issues through product improvements and ownership support.

He highlighted Ather's extended battery warranty programme, which provides coverage of up to 10 years and is transferable to subsequent owners.

The optional warranty covers eligible batteries for up to 10 years or 100,000 kilometres, whichever comes first, with a guarantee that battery health will remain above 70% during the coverage period.

Phokela said transferable warranties help address concerns about the value of electric scooters in the second-hand market, particularly as buyers worry about the cost of replacing batteries after several years of use.

Ather has also introduced its TrueHealth feature, which uses connected vehicle data to assess the condition of major components and provide an indicative resale value for scooters that are more than three years old.

Phokela said information on component health, vehicle usage and operating conditions could help reduce uncertainty between buyers and sellers of used electric scooters.

"The buyer gets confidence because it's backed by objective data," he said.

According to Ather, the valuation provided through TrueHealth is indicative and does not represent a guaranteed resale or buyback price.

Phokela argued that connected vehicle technology could also support preventive maintenance by identifying certain problems before they develop into more serious failures.

He said manufacturers needed to design connected systems into their vehicle architecture rather than treat connectivity merely as an additional convenience feature.

Smaller Towns Offer Growth as Buyers Prioritise Value

Phokela also challenged the assumption that EV adoption would be difficult in smaller towns and rural markets because of affordability concerns.

He said consumers in Tier 3 and Tier 4 markets increasingly have access to the same information and product awareness as buyers in metropolitan cities, while expanding dealer networks are helping address earlier concerns about vehicle availability and servicing.

"What they did not have was affordability, perhaps, I'm saying perhaps, I'm not even sure of that. And certainly there was no distribution earlier," he said.

He argued that charging could also be less complicated in markets where independent houses are more common, reducing dependence on public charging infrastructure.

According to Phokela, customers are not necessarily looking for the lowest-priced electric scooter, with higher-end variants in Ather's portfolio selling significantly more than entry-level versions.

He said buyers increasingly value features such as connected dashboards, navigation, remote diagnostics and other technologies that were previously available largely in more expensive vehicles. "Either you optimise for price, or you optimise for value," he said.

Ather has been expanding its presence in the mass-market scooter segment with the introduction of the Konarc in August 2026 at a starting price of Rs 99,999, ex-showroom Bengaluru.

In a September interview with Autocar Professional, Phokela had said the Konarc could eventually account for 50-60% of Ather's sales as the company attempts to attract more petrol scooter buyers.

Electric Motorcycles Remain an Uncertain Opportunity

While expressing confidence in electric scooter adoption, Phokela said the transition towards electric motorcycles was less predictable because of differences in customer requirements across motorcycle categories.

"We do believe that bikes will electrify one way or the other. At this point, we aren't really sure what specific segment is going to flip first," he said.

Ather is developing an electric motorcycle platform but has yet to determine which customer segment will offer the strongest opportunity for its first product.

Phokela said the company would continue developing its understanding of the market and could learn from the experiences of other manufacturers already introducing electric motorcycles.

The cautious approach is consistent with Ather's earlier statements. In August, co-founder and CEO Tarun Mehta said the company would prioritise products based on its EL scooter platform before entering the electric motorcycle market.

Localisation Needed for Long-Term Supply Security

Beyond consumer adoption, Phokela said developing domestic supply chains for battery cells, semiconductors and magnets would be essential to sustaining India's EV growth over the coming decades.

He warned that locally manufactured battery cells could initially cost more than imports from China, but argued that manufacturers would need to accept higher costs to improve supply reliability and reduce exposure to geopolitical disruptions.

"When India starts cell production, it is very, very likely, it is going to be more expensive than to import from China. But we bite that bullet for predictability and reliability of supply chain," he said.

Phokela said India's existing EV supply chains had generally remained reliable, but expanding domestic manufacturing capabilities was necessary to reduce longer-term risks.

He added that investments in these areas would require patient capital and sustained government support, as new manufacturing ecosystems could take several years to become commercially viable.

The challenge, he said, was to ensure that the industry developed the manufacturing capabilities needed to support mass EV adoption rather than focusing only on generating consumer demand.