The revolution, repossessed: 7 in 10 electric two-wheelers now come from the old guard
Electric hit a record 9.7% of July's 17.9 lakh two-wheeler registrations — and TVS, Bajaj and Hero banked 71.7% of that market. Ola shrank, Ather surged 72%, and Honda, India's No. 1, barely turned up.
Two markets, one showroom: petrol grows, electric sprints
July delivered 17,92,642 two-wheelers, +27.9% YoY — but the market is running at two speeds. Petrol and the rest grew a healthy +23.8% YoY to 16.19 lakh; electric grew +84.9% to 1,73,853. That pushed EV share to 9.7%, a record for this 19-month series and +3.0 pp on last July. The tenth wheel now plugs in.
TVS is the landlord of the electric tenth
The startups built this market; the incumbents are collecting the rent.
TVS sold 55,796 electric two-wheelers in July — 32.1% of the EV market. Bajaj took 26.4% with 45,855. Add Hero's 13.2% and the legacy trio owns 71.7% of a segment the startups invented. Ather holds a muscular 17.6%; Ola, once the segment's loudest name, is down to 8.2%.
| # | Maker | EV regs | Share of EV market |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | TVS Motor Company | 55,796 | 32.1% |
| 2 | Bajaj Auto | 45,855 | 26.4% |
| 3 | Ather Energy | 30,610 | 17.6% |
| 4 | Hero Motocorp | 22,986 | 13.2% |
| 5 | Ola Electric Technologies | 14,225 | 8.2% |
| 6 | Revolt Intellicorp | 1,252 | 0.7% |
| 7 | Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India | 939 | 0.5% |
| 8 | Ultraviolette Automotive | 701 | 0.4% |
| 9 | Kinetic Green Energy Power Solutions | 652 | 0.4% |
| 10 | Suzuki Motorcycle India | 604 | 0.3% |
Ather doubles down, Ola thins out
A year ago Ola outsold Ather, 18,449 to 17,835. In July, Ather registered 30,610 — +71.6% YoY, the fastest grower among sizeable makers — while Ola fell -22.9% to 14,225, the only decliner on the board. Ather's national share climbed to 1.7% (+0.4 pp); Ola's slid to 0.8% (-0.5 pp). Same segment, opposite trajectories.
And TVS is coming for Hero's second spot
The EV engine is reshaping the overall league too. Honda holds No. 1 at 26.3% (+0.3 pp YoY); Hero sits at 24.7% (-0.2 pp). But TVS — growing +33.9% YoY, fastest of the big four — is at 21.0% (+0.9 pp), narrowing its gap to Hero from 4.8 pp to 3.7 pp in a year. Bajaj slipped to 10.1% (-0.3 pp).
Nineteen months from 5.7% to 9.7%: how the incumbents took the plug
- Jan 2025The series opens at 5.7%90,327 electric two-wheelers in a 15.8 lakh month.
- Jul 2025Ola still ahead of Ather18,449 vs 17,835 — the last July the startups' order held.
- Oct 2025Diwali dilutes the tenthA record 1,29,965 EVs, but share dips to 4.05% as petrol's festive flood arrives.
- Mar 2026First 1.7 lakh EV month1,71,329 electric registrations lift share to 8.6%.
- Jul 20269.7% — and repossessedTVS and Bajaj alone sell 58.5% of a record 1,73,853 electric two-wheelers.
Honda's electric no-show
Honda sells 1 in 4 of India's two-wheelers — and 1 in 185 of its electric ones.
Here is July's strangest number: Honda registered 4,72,210 two-wheelers, and just 939 of them were electric — 0.5% of the EV market. Suzuki managed 604, and its overall share fell -0.9 pp to 5.8%. Every point EV share gains is a point the leader is currently not contesting. That is a widening exposure, not a rounding error.
Odisha's 1 in 5 versus Bihar's 1 in 26
Adoption is fiercely lopsided. Odisha leads at 20.3% EV share, then Goa (17.1%), Karnataka (16.1%) and Madhya Pradesh (15.5%). But Uttar Pradesh, India's biggest two-wheeler state, sits at just 7.3%; West Bengal at 4.5%, Bihar at 3.9%, Haryana at 2.7%. Sikkim and Ladakh registered exactly zero electric two-wheelers in July. The electric tenth is really a southern-and-coastal fifth.
The road ahead
August's provisional 12,70,568 registrations say demand is intact; the real examination is Diwali. Last festive season petrol's flood diluted EV share to 4.05%. If the electric tenth holds through October's crush — with TVS collecting rent and Honda still outside — the league table of 2027 is already being written at the socket.