Today is January 25, 2024. Four years to the date, TVS Motor Co had launched the iQube, its first all-electric scooter. From launch through to end-December 2023, the TVS iQube has seen total wholesales of 252,676 units in the Indian market, in tandem with the rapid growth of the electric two-wheeler segment. In CY2023, electric two-wheeler retail sales rose 36% YoY to over 857,000 units (CY2022: 631,462 units) and the iQube accounted for 166,479 units or 19.42% of that number.
With cumulative wholesales of 252,676 units, TVS Motor Co has become the first legacy OEM in India to record the 250,000-unit milestone, which has come 48 months or four years after the iQube’s launch. Total iQube production till end-December 2023 was 257,014 units, with the company ramping up output to keep pace with the demand.
Accelerating demand: April-December 2023 wholesales of 144,126 units jumped 169% YoY (April-December 2022: 53,599) necessitating a production ramp-up.
While the first 100,000-unit sales took a little over 3 years, the run from 100,000 to 200,000 iQubes was achieved in far less time – just 10 months. Month-on-month increases in the ongoing fiscal year 2024 has meant that the last 50,000 units have been sold in a little over three months, 100,000 units in just six months and the last 150,000 units in 10 months, which reflects the sustained as well as surging demand for the TVS iQube and also the growing consumer shift towards electric mobility in the country.
To put it simply, the iQube has powered TVS Motor Co into the second-ranked two-wheeler EV OEM in India with a 19% market share, after Ola Electric’s 31 percent in CY2023.
Sustained demand for the iQube has helped make TVS the No. 2 EV OEM and a 19% market share in the fast-growing Indian e-two-wheeler market.
Meanwhile, the iQube’s retail sales from launch through to January 24, 2024, as per the government of India’s Vahan website, till January 23, 2024 were 229,819 units, which means inventory of the e-scooter with TVS dealers across the country would be in the region of around 22,000 units. TVS Motor has, over the past year, substantially increased the iQube dealer network which is estimated to be over 500 outlets at present.
With three months still to go before FY2024 closes, the iQube has already notched its best-ever sales for a fiscal – the 144,126 units sold in the April-December 2023 period are already a 49% increase over the previous best, which was FY2023’s 96,654 units. Having averaged monthly sales of 16,014 units in the fiscal to date, expect the iQube to clock of close to the 200,000 units mark in FY2024.
Like most electric two-wheeler OEMs, TVS Motor Co saw wholesales slow down a bit in June 2023 (14,462 units), when the slashed 40%-to-15% FAME II subsidy kicked in, and in July (13,306 units). But a maturing EV market and consumers keen on benefiting from the wallet-friendly ownership of a e-scooter has seen TVS benefit from the three-month festive season in August 2023 (23,887 units), September 2023 (20,276 units) and October 2023 (20,121 units). These three months have been the only ones in the 48 months since the iQube’s launch that monthly wholesales have surpassed the 20,000-unit mark.
The top-spec iQube ST variant has a range of 140km on a single charge.
REFRESHED iQUBE WITH MORE RANGE AND FEATURES HELPS SALES ACCELERATE
One of the reasons the iQube is witnessing robust demand has been the market introduction of the refreshed iQube, with improved range and features, in May 2022. Sales picked up speedily and the eco-friendly scooter also bagged the ‘Green Two-Wheeler of the Year’ title at the Autocar Awards 2023.
Available in three variants (iQube, iQube S and iQube ST), the zero-emission TVS is priced between Rs 117,000 and Rs 124,000 (on-road Delhi) including the now-reduced FAME II subsidy (from 40% to 15%) and other state subsidies, for the iQube and iQube S respectively. Prior to June 1, 2023, the iQube’s pricing was Rs 98,564 and Rs 108,690 (on-road Delhi) for these two variants, respectively.
The top-spec iQube ST variant has a range of 140km on a single charge, nearly twice the range of 75km on the first-gen model. The refreshed iQube retains its all-LED lights and 12-inch wheels but gets a host of connectivity features, driven by the various TFT instrument clusters on offer. While the entry-level iQube gets a 5-inch unit that supports turn-by-turn navigation, the iQube S comes equipped with a larger 7-inch TFT cluster that offers music controls and theme personalisation as well. The top-end ST variant features a 7-inch touchscreen instrument cluster, which is also ready for OTA updates, and also offers voice assistance.
TVS Motor Co, which understood to be developing a low-cost variant of its e-scooter, continues to improve on the ease of charging quotient for iQube owners, who currently have access to over 2,000 charging points with various charging partners through the TVS iQube mobile app.
TVS has also begun exports of the iQube, with a total of 156 units shipped overseas but that calls for a new report altogether.
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Images: TVS Motor Co