New Delhi: Exploding sales of low-speed electric scooters—powered heavily by cheap Chinese imports—are giving a headache to India’s established electric vehicle (EV) makers, who warn that the poor-quality products risk hurting consumer confidence in electric two-wheelers just as the sector is gaining scale.
Low-speed scooters—with speeds capped at 25 kmph—do not need to be registered on the Vahan portal, and so their growth has gone under the radar. But industry estimates point to sales numbers matching that of established players such as TVS Motor Co., Bajaj Auto, Ola Electric Mobility, and Ather Energy, among others.
According to two-wheeler consultancy InsightEV, sales of low-speed electric scooters shot up more than 200% in 2025 to an estimated 1.3 million units. Comparatively, sales of high-speed electric scooters that were registered on Vahan increased 12% to an identical 1.3 million units during the year.
Another estimate from a 23 October investor presentation by Zelio E-Mobility projected the low-speed market at 800,000 units in FY25, rising to 1 million units in FY26. But Kunal Arya, managing director at Zelio, believes the growth has been faster.
“The size of the market is doubling every year,” Arya said. “Now, at least 2 lakh (200,000) low-speed electric scooters are being sold every month. There are no standards, and import barriers are also not there, so anyone is entering the market, but over a period of time this should settle down.”
Industry executives and analysts say the boom is being fuelled by imported knock-down kits from China that are assembled and sold through local dealer networks, allowing dozens of unorganized players to enter the market with minimal investment.
“There has been huge growth in the low-speed electric two-wheeler market as it makes economic sense for people,” Deepesh Rathore, founder and head of research at InsightEV, a two wheeler consultancy, said. “With most of the market being imported through kits, the margins businesses are making are huge.”
Industry executives say many of these scooters come with limited warranty or after-sales support, raising concerns around shelf-life and product quality. Further, financing options from formal lenders are also limited as these vehicles are not registered. Yet, they are getting increasingly popular because of their low prices.
Industry executives said a typical low-speed electric scooter CKD (completely knocked-down) kit imported from China costs around ₹15,000. Including the battery, total costs rise to roughly ₹25,000, while finished scooters are sold to consumers for ₹40,000-50,000. By comparison, high-speed electric scooters typically cost around ₹1 lakh.
The market for such low-speed scooters typically includes young users who are getting their first vehicles, delivery fleet operators required to travel short distances, and consumers in small towns looking to cover short distances of 20-30km.
A senior executive at a high-speed electric two wheeler maker, requesting anonymity, said that unchecked rapid growth of such scooters could be a concern as low-quality scooters can dampen consumer perception.
“In smaller towns, what might happen is that the imported low-quality scooters might create a negative perception about the quality of an electric scooter,” the executive said. “Given how there are now requirements about delivery fleets being electrified and a rapid growth in small cities, the Chinese imports flooding the sector has been a concern.”
Requests for comments from Odysse Electric, Bajaj Auto, Ather Energy, Ola Electric, TVS Motor Co., Hero Motocorp and Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt. Ltd did not elicit a response.
Before the EV boom
To be sure, imports of slow-speed electric scooters from China have been ongoing for more than a decade now, and defined the market before Ola Electric and others scaled up from FY22 onwards.
According to estimates in Zelio’s investor presentation, sales of low-speed scooters stood at around 250,000 units in 2022, when sales of mainstream high-speed electric scooters began accelerating.
There were expectations that scaling up of mainstream electric two-wheeler players and rising awareness due to entry of legacy players like Hero, TVS and Bajaj would gradually slow the import-dependent market. However, the segment has continued to expand rapidly.
Experts cite affordability as the key reason behind this trend, combined with rise in use by delivery fleets and the requirement of limited range in small towns. Executives add that lack of requirement of registrations also acts in favour of these scooters.
The rapid growth in the segment has raised questions on whether large Indian manufactures can try and scale up in the segment that counts few formal players.
“It would be difficult for local supply chains to undercut Chinese kits on prices, so that remains a challenge,” Rathore said.
At the same time, he believes that there is a case for Indian manufacturers to get into this segment in a big way.
Domestically, a few players have already invested in organized manufacturing. Among them is Yulu, whose vehicles are manufactured by Bajaj Auto and deployed largely for shared mobility and delivery fleets.
Yulu co-founder and chief executive Amit Gupta said the company’s fleet has grown more than 50% in the past two years, from around 30,000 EVs in mid-2024 to 46,000 today, and is expected to double by the end of FY27 amid strong demand.
“Yulu recognized this risk early on,” Gupta said, referring to rising Chinese imports. “Along with building for India, we wanted to build in India as well. That’s why we entered a strategic partnership with Bajaj Auto as our R&D and manufacturing partner for our purpose-built vehicles.”
Zelio E-Mobility and Odysse Electric are also among the few organized names in the segment. Zelio is listed on the SME index of BSE.