Cheap Chinese EV scooters quietly become a million-unit market in India

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.New Delhi: Exploding sales of low-speed electric scooters—powered heavily by cheap Chinese imports—are giving a headache to India’s established electric vehicle (EV) makers, who warn that the poor-quality products risk hurting consumer confidence in electric two-wheelers just as the sector is gaining scale.Low-speed scooters—with speeds capped at 25 kmph—do not need to be registered on the Vahan portal, and so their growth has gone under the radar. But industry estimates point to sales numbers matching that of established players such as TVS Motor Co., Bajaj Auto, Ola Electric Mobility, and Ather Energy, among others.According to two-wheeler consultancy InsightEV, sales of low-speed electric scooters shot up more than 200% in 2025 to an estimated 1.3 million units.

Comparatively, sales of high-speed electric scooters that were registered on Vahan increased 12% to an identical 1.3 million units during the year.Another estimate from a 23 October investor presentation by Zelio E-Mobility projected the low-speed market at 800,000 units in FY25, rising to 1 million units in FY26. But Kunal Arya, managing director at Zelio, believes the growth has been faster.“The size of the market is doubling every year,” Arya said.

“Now, at least 2 lakh (200,000) low-speed electric scooters are being sold every month. There are no standards, and import barriers are also not there, so anyone is entering the market, but over a period of time this should settle down.”Industry executives and analysts say the boom is being fuelled by imported knock-down kits from China that are assembled and sold through local dealer networks, allowing dozens of unorganized players to enter the market with minimal