E2W Registrations Plunge 27% In April; Ola Electric Bucks Trend With 20% Jump

After a 59% increase in electric two-wheeler (E2W) registrations in March, the industry saw a contraction in April, with registrations declining 20% month-on-month (MoM) and most original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) witnessing a double-digit decline.

The registrations in April stood at 1.4 Lakh units, compared to 1.92 Lakh units in the previous month, according to Vahan data. Despite the MoM decline, registrations were up over 50% from the 92,532 units sold in April 2025.

It is pertinent to mention that E2W registrations declined over the past year as the technology’s novelty and government subsidies faded. While recovery began in January, March saw the highest monthly E2W registrations ever. Most top OEMs witnessed an over 50% MoM jump last month. At the same time, two-wheeler EV penetration surpassed 6.5% in FY26, with overall sales jumping to over 14 Lakh units in FY26 from 11.5 Lakh in FY25, according to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations.

Ola Electric Defies The Slump

Amid this, Ola Electric emerged as an outlier in April, recording a 20% jump in registrations to 11,391 units. After months of mounting pressures from consumer, regulators and internal challenges, the EV maker turned around its fortunes in March by reporting a 139% jump in sales. Continuing this momentum, its market share also improved to 8% this month from around 5% in March.

Once the market leader, Ola Electric has been making sustained efforts to gain back market share over the past few months, including investments in its indigenous cell technology and after-sale service network, along with heavy discounting to push up sales.

In April, it launched a new variant of its S1 X+ escooter fitted with its 4680 Bharat Cell at an introductory price of ₹1.3 Lakh. The company also said that its in-house developed Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) cell is ready for deployment, which it claims to be bigger than 4680 Bharat Cell and will be integrated into vehicles by the next quarter.

Its gigafactory has achieved a capacity of 2.5 GWh and is now being scaled up to 6 GWh. All of these highlight the OEMs continued endeavour toward making its vehicles more affordable.

This was reflected in its decision to reduce the price of its EV motorcycle Roadster X+ 9.1 kWh by ₹60K to ₹1.3 Lakh as in-house production of its 4680 Bharat Cell, along with achieving economies of scale at its gigafactory, helped bring down manufacturing costs. However, the company shifted to a limited purchase window for the motorcycle, with vehicles made available in specific time-bound slots and limited quantities.

During the month, its motorcycle Roadster X+ 4.5 kWh also achieved a certification for compliance with requirements under the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme, making the model eligible for incentives under the PLI auto scheme.

Legacy E2W Players Retain Dominance

Meanwhile, most top OEMs witnessed a decline in sales in April on an MoM basis. Ather Energy, which steadily saw a rise in its market share over the past year, saw an over 23% decline in registrations in April to 25,861 units. Its market share declined marginally by 40 basis points to 18.4%.

Cofounder and CEO Tarun Mehta today criticised the central government’s stance to exclude startups from the PLI scheme for auto. He said that the PLI scheme effectively places emerging manufacturers at a 13-16% cost disadvantage by prioritising legacy scale over EV-specific capabilities. This, he said, could shape long-term market outcomes by discouraging investments in innovation-led segments where startups have been leading.

Meanwhile, the top three OEMs, including Ather, retained their spots in terms of registrations, despite seeing a MoM decline. TVS Motor, which holds over 25% share in the E2W segment, saw its sales decline over 23% to 35,980 units in April. Trailing behind was Bajaj Auto, with its registrations dipping 27.6% to 31,083 units. Its market share declined 200 basis points to 22%.

Hero MotoCorp, which holds a 10% market share in the EV two-wheeler segment, sold 14,198 units in April, down 28.2% from March. The OEM’s market share has been inching up rapidly over the past year, after it started FY26 with around 2-3% share. Its flagship Vida EV scooter saw sales of around 1.5 Lakh during the fiscal year.

Startups Struggle To Gain Meaningful Share

Most startups operating in the space, barring the likes of Ather and Ola Electric, have continued to see a decline in their registrations over the past few months. Pure EV, for instance, saw registrations fall over 55% in April to 146 units, the biggest dip among the top EV makers. Even during the March rebound, it saw a 28% decline in registrations.

Bengaluru-based River also saw registrations decline 22% in April to 3,037 units. The OEM is taking new initiatives and investments to scale its penetration, including the recent relaunch of its Indie Gen 3 escooter with new features at ₹ 1.44 Lakh. It’s also looking to expand its manufacturing capacity.

Simple Energy has been on a similar expansion spree, launching five new stores in April alone. Its registrations during the month dipped almost 31% MoM to 1,115 units, despite the launch of its new Ultra electric scooter priced at ₹2.34 Lakh, with a claimed range of 400 km.

Another outlier during the month, apart from Ola Electric, was electric bike maker Ultraviolette, with its registrations jumping almost 24% to 328 units in April. The startup also launched its second experience centre in New Delhi, expanding its total retail network to 25 cities. During the month, it also launched a select product portfolio in central European markets, including Hungary, Croatia, Slovakia, Romania, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic.

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