ICTS 2026: Mandates, incentives insufficient to allay concerns over shift to e-motorcycles, say experts

New DelhiMandates and incentives alone would not be sufficient to expedite the shift to electric motorcycles, experts and industry experts said, highlighting gaps in the upfront pricing when compared to internal-combustion engine-run vehicles, financing options, charging infrastructure and battery-swapping interoperability, amid Delhi’s plan to register only EV two-wheelers from April 2028

New Delhi

Mandates and incentives alone would not be sufficient to expedite the shift to electric motorcycles, experts and industry experts said, highlighting gaps in the upfront pricing when compared to internal-combustion engine-run vehicles, financing options, charging infrastructure and battery-swapping interoperability, amid Delhi’s plan to register only EV two-wheelers from April 2028.

Speaking during a segment on electrifying India’s two-wheelers at the second day of the India Clean Transportation Summit (ICTS) 2026 on Wednesday, Ajay Mathur, former director general of the International Solar Alliance and Bureau of Energy Efficiency, identified three major issues for slower adoption of electric motorcycles. He listed safety and thermal management, the absence of an ecosystem for demand creation and interoperability for battery swapping.

Hindustan Times is the media partner for the event.

“Having reliable charging availability can be one of the levers for increasing the two-wheeler demand. It is clear that only giving mandates will not help achieve goals. So, it is important for the government and the industry to meet the finance needs and improve charging infrastructure, especially for the category of people who will buy two-wheelers,” Mathur said at the summit, organised by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT).

Paroma Bhat, head of public policy and government relations at Uber India and South Asia, said the economics of electric two-wheelers were already favourable for some commercial applications, particularly ride-hailing, but acknowledged a difference in financing terms between two-wheelers using internal combustion engines (ICE) and electric two-wheelers. “Financing for ICE bikes allows for long EMI tenure but for EV, it is shorter, up to three years. For most two-wheelers, this increases their EMIs and therefore, the cost may be inhibitive,” she said.

For gig workers, the charging experience must be comparable with conventional fuel stations to minimise concerns about downtime, she said. “We need a mix of models, financing and charging solutions for making e-motorcycles feasible for gig workers,” Bhat said.

Subrata Mitra, head of government relations at Ather Energy, said the usage pattern of electric motorcycles varies from scooters, with some motorists travelling 60-100 kilometres a day. He said charging remained a concern for users who did not have access to infrastructure at home.

“I am confident that industry will meet the challenge of vehicle engineering, but where we lack is the issue of charging,” Mitra said, calling for a “right to charge” framework to address permissions related to charging.

Ridhi Palia, research associate at ITS UC Davis, said electric motorcycles accounted for a major share of the electric two-wheeler market, but had fewer options than electric scooters. She said that while the total cost of ownership was favourable, “the upfront cost of an e-motorcycle is larger and the subsidy cap is a hindrance to wider uptake.”

Vinayak Bhat, chief product officer at Ultraviolette Automotive, said the structure of two-wheeler subsidies had encouraged manufacturers and suppliers to focus on low-power applications. He said that while there is a perception that e-motorcycles may not be powerful enough to appeal to the majority, the premium segment was now manufacturing electric two-wheelers much more powerful than conventional ICE vehicles of the same segment.

The discussions came amid Delhi’s EV Policy 2026, notified on July 1, 2026. While phasing out ICE two-wheelers, the policy also provides a purchase incentive of ₹5,000 per kWh of battery capacity, capped at ₹30,000 per vehicle, along with a scrapping incentive of up to ₹5,000. The mandate by the Delhi government is aimed at accelerating the shift in the two-wheeler segment, which accounts for over 60% of all new vehicle registrations in the Capital.