Electric motorcycles are currently only in their infancy in India, accounting for 0.2% of two-wheeler registrations, however the CTO of Ultraviolette sees similar to scooter like growth.
Electric motorcycles may see similar growth as seen with electric scooters in the near future, according to Niraj Rajmohan, CTO and Co-founder of Ultraviolette Automotive at the Autocar Professional India EV Conclave on 27th October 2026.
Key Takeaways:
Who: Niraj Rajmohan believes electric motorcycles will follow the same adoption curve as electric scooters.
When/Where: 27 th October 2026 at the India EV Conclave 2026 in New Delhi.
Why: Electric motorcycles account for 0.2% of 2-wheeler registrations in September 2026 compared to 10.6% for electric scooters, according to JATO Dynamics.
How far behind?
Electric motorcycles are very behind. He highlighted that electric scooters have grown significantly from 1% to double digits over the past few years and this is what we will see next with electric motorcycles.
"I see that in the next three years for motorcycles you’re going to see something like that."
Overall, motorcycles (regardless of fuel type) accounted for 52.7% of the total market in September, but electric motorcycles only made up 0.2%. However, Rajmohan wasn’t willing to give a figure for 2030, as different segments will grow at different rates (commuters, street, sport, cruiser, adventure).
What electric motorcycles will dominate?
High-end electric motorcycles. If you look at 100cc motorcycles most people will buy the motorcycle for utility, but if you look at anything above 150cc people are looking for performance, tech and improved riding experience. He compares Ultraviolette to 200-400cc petrol motorcycles many of which will be priced around Rs 2.5 lakh and over.
The X-47 Venom on the VX-100 platform has a launch price of Rs 2.65 lakh ex-showroom for the first 5,000 customers. It boasts a range of up to 343km on its 11kWh battery. Two budget products will follow in Q1 2027, the Shockwave motorcycle and Tesseract scooter.
Are people only buying in big cities?
Not necessarily. Usage data from Ultraviolette show that some customers are driving between 150-200km daily on long journeys such as Bengaluru to Mysuru, Bengaluru to Hosur and Mumbai to Pune. Due to the lower running costs, it makes sense to buy despite the high purchase price.
Small towns are also taking an interest. Some customers have travelled up to 400km to get their bike, so they have increased service offerings in areas where they do not have as many sales points.
What could hinder growth?
Battery cells will be the main issue. We are still importing from overseas. Rajmohan said battery cells account for 20-30% of the cost of an electric vehicle. This is also the case with semiconductor and rare earth magnet components. Charging infrastructure will also need to increase. However, there is a production linked incentive scheme in place in India for 50GWh of advanced chemistry cell production worth Rs 18,100 crore.
Further To Know:
The company plans to spend around Rs 779 crore to build a plant in Hosur, Tamil Nadu over the next 5 years, according to a Reuters report, stated by Autocar Professional. They will have an initial capacity of 250,000 units per annum, with the option to scale to 500,000 units.
In September, the CEO and Co-founder said electric motorcycles could take up to 20% of the Indian market within 2-3 years, according to Autocar Professional.
The Middle East crisis could boost demand for EVs, according to Rajmohan, but will increase raw material costs.
However, Autocar Professional had an article that day titled “Electric Scooters Move into Mainstream Whilst Motorcycles Still Pose a Challenge” referencing Ather’s Chief Business Officer.
This is a prediction from Rajmohan. At the moment electric motorcycles account for just 0.2% of registrations. They will need to become more affordable, have local production of cells and increased charging. As the business has an interest in this, the 3-year timeframe is a well-informed opinion from the industry.
Business Fortune believes the Shockwave and Tesseract models launching in 2027 will give an early indication if customers are buying.
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