Mandates, incentives not enough for EV 2-wheeler shift: Experts

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.

“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).

He said that while two-wheelers are generally charged at home, there was a need for facilities where vehicles could be charged overnight for use the following morning.

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

Paroma Bhat, head of public policy and government relations at Uber India and South Asia, said that the economics of electric two-wheelers were already favourable for some commercial applications, particularly ride-hailing. However, he 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.