5 Things You Should Keep In Mind Before Buying An Electric Two-wheeler

Range, cost, charging woes, we cover it all in our 5-point guide

Electric two-wheelers are undoubtedly the future and their market share has seen tremendous growth over the past few years. If you’ve been thinking about getting your hands on an electric two-wheeler but were unsure of what to look for, fret not. Here’s five things that you should keep in mind before buying one:

1. Be an Early Bird

The electric two-wheeler market is hot right now and the state and central governments are incentivising electric mobility for both manufacturers and customers. The Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and EV scheme (FAME II) subsidy can get you benefits of Rs 15,000 per kWh of battery capacity. You can read more about it here.  

Furthermore, some of the state governments have announced their own subsidies on EVs as well. States like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan among others have a lot of benefits on offer that you can avail. 

2. Cost

Unless you are one of those ‘money-no-object’ people, the cost of the vehicle would be important to you. Thankfully, there are a number of budget-friendly options you can look at in the market currently. You have EVs starting from as low as Rs 45,000, going all the way up to Rs 1.50 lakh. 

Hence with some research, you should be able to find an electric vehicle that suits your needs and fits your budget as well.

3. Range

An electric vehicle is only as good as its battery. With the advent of lithium batteries, most of the electric vehicles on sale today have a range that’s more than enough to handle your daily commutes while at the same time, keeping battery size and weight manageable. You may argue that riding long distances might not be an option with current EVs, but how often do you tour on your petrol-powered commuters anyway? So as long as the realistic everyday travelling is concerned, most EVs should have you covered. 

• Check Out The Ather 450X Price Here

• TVS iQube Electric ST Variant Launch Nears

• Indian Army Goes To The Himalayas With The Ola S1 Pro

4. Charging Woes?

Should you charge your EV at home or at your workplace? Even though government regulations have now made it mandatory for residential and commercial buildings to have EV charging points, if your residential building doesn’t have one, we’d recommend you to clarify with the concerned authorities. 

Here, removable batteries could come to your rescue as you could simply take them with you, wherever you want - whether inside your home or your office. That said, batteries are on the heavier side, weighing at about 7-8kg apiece so you might want to keep that in mind.

If carrying the batteries around isn’t your thing too, you can simply swap the battery. So instead of having to wait for your battery to get charged, you can simply head to a swap station and get yours swapped for a fully-charged one. But here you’ll have to consider how many swap stations a particular EV maker has in your city at the moment.

5. Manufacturer Assistance 

Having access to roadside assistance goes a long way in not just curbing range anxiety, but also reinforcing trust in your EV. In case of a breakdown or running out of charge, you can always call up your dealership/EV company and have them tow the vehicle to the nearest service/charge station. Companies like Ather, TVS, Ola Electric among others offer roadside assistance on a subscription basis. 

Bonus thing to consider - Features

Electric two-wheelers come loaded to the T with features. Riding modes, bluetooth connectivity, cruise control, you name it. You should look out for EVs with features that suit you the most and come with an easy interface for you to operate. 

The EV space is growing at a rapid pace in India and is slowly and steadily catching up with its ICE counterparts. The one advice that we’d give you, above all the previous ones, is to test ride the vehicles you’re interested in and decide accordingly instead of judging them only by their specifications.