If you reside in a metro and take your petrol-powered two-wheeler to work, chances are you’re spending upwards of Rs 100/litre on fuel every day. Compare that to the cost of covering a distance of say 35 km, on an electric bike and you’re likely consumer a unit or two of power, which costs around Rs 12-15.
That’s almost 80 percent of saving on daily fuel bill – and the good news is that the government has made the switch to electric vehicles more lucrative with a significant hike in cash subsidies. According to Naveen Munjal, Managing Director of Hero Electric — the country’s highest-selling electric two-wheeler brand — traction is so good that the company is on track to double its sales volumes compared to last year.
“We believe we’re on track for and in fact may just surpass a 100,000 units in sales in FY22,” Munjal told CNBC-TV18.
In FY20, Hero Electric sold 46,000 units, which grew to over 53,000 in FY21. “We will be back to our Jan-March run rate and then build more volume this month onwards,” he added. Despite a weak first quarter, the company is expecting to pull in high demand because of attractive prices due to government incentives and a natural interest in EVs as fuel prices attain prohibitively high levels.
Munjal said that dealerships are receiving higher customer walk-ins and good retail offtake since the Centre’s revision to its FAME-II scheme last month. While the lower initial purchase price is a big trigger, customers have also started to look at factors like convenience and ease of use as well. Hero Electric, for example, offers portable batteries which can be charged at home with its products.
“Customers are switching to electric in a significant manner for any new purchases. They’ve started to look at factors like TCO (which is total cost of ownership) and convenience,” he said and added, “Anyone changing vehicles now is seriously considering electric vehicles as a form of mobility.”