3- Industry Description

Electric Bike industry is in nascent stage still in India, with lots of apprehension about its
durability and quality being offered. While doing this study it became more and more clear that
lack of awareness, regulatory authority, quality issues are some of the biggest challenges in front
of the industry. But with ever increasing Petrol prices and high pollution, sooner Electric Bikes
are going to put a serious challenge to the Petrol Bikes. At this stage the primary focus of the
company shall lie on R&D, improving quality and educating people. So, with Government
support in the form of developing the necessary infrastructure and subsidy to the end customer,
there is possibility of Electric Bike Industry is getting ready for a golden feature.
India is the second largest producer and manufacturer of two-wheelers in the world. It stands
next to Japan and China in terms of the number of two-wheelers produced and domestic sales.
Indian two-wheeler industry has got spectacular growth in the last few years. The face of auto
industry that was redefined with the invention of fuel-efficient technology is all set to see dawn
of a new era in two-wheeler industry. It's not petrol or diesel or any other fuel, but it is electricity
that has initiated a revolution in two-wheeler industry in India. Indian two-wheeler industry has
embraced the new concept of Electric Bikes and Scooters that are very popular mode of personal
transport in the developed countries like America, Japan and China. With the rising cost of fuel
at International level, increasing levels of pollution and congestion in transport system especially
in urban areas, higher running and maintenance cost of vehicle, the electrically charged bikes or
scooters have very bright future in area of personal transportation. During the last few decades,
environmental impact of the petroleum-based transportation infrastructure, along with the peak
oil prices, has led to renewed interest in electric transportation infrastructure. Electric vehicles
differ from fossil fuel-powered vehicles in that the electricity they consume can be generated
from a wide range of sources, including fossil fuels, nuclear power, and renewable sources such
as tidal power, solar power, and wind power or any combination of those.

Global warming is becoming the major concern all around the world. There are several policies,
promise and pledges with the ever-increasing emission of greenhouse gases. There is an
increased fear of environment pollution at every step with modern technology and innovation.
Transportation and communication have under gone paradigm shift along with this. We are also
experiencing the negative effects of industrialization in the form of global warming. Under these
circumstances there are so many vehicles emitting impure carbon particles and carbon-dioxide
pollution into the air. With increased number of fossil fuel dependent vehicles, there is a greater
level depletion of fuel resource. It is here that automobile companies felt need to innovate motor
pad vehicle that will get charged through electricity and will not be depending on fossil fuels. So
many automobile manufacturing companies invested in research and development to bring forth
E-bike that will help people to save the fuel.
 1- Problem faced in yo -bikes and electric bike
https://electricbikeindia.weebly.com/disadvantages.html

1. Environment:
Given that most of the electricity in India is obtained from the firing of coal, e-bikes are not
really friendly to the environment. They merely shift the location of the pollution from the city to
the source of electricity generation. This is not necessarily bad, given that high levels of city
pollution are medically damaging to the residents of the city. However, it is bad for the planet, as
a whole.

Also bad for the planet is that the batteries require to be replaced frequently, and batteries cannot
be completely recycled. There is substantial battery waste for which disposal will be a large
problem should a major shift occur to the use of e-vehicles. This concern applies to all batteries,
including lithium ion batteries.

2. Weight:
The weight of the batteries makes the bike heavy; so, you may not be able to carry heavy pillion
riders (unless you hyperinflate your rear wheel tyres), and you will need to check the tyre
pressure regularly, perhaps every 10 days.

3. Cost and concessions:

E-bikes are generally more expensive than petrol bikes. Note that accessories for e-bikes increase
the cost; be aware of all these hidden charges. Also note that some states in India offer
concessions in costing, or concessions in taxes. Check these concessions in the state in which
you live; and remember that concessions may vary from year to year, depending on the
provisions of the State Budget.

 My experience in Karnataka: I paid about 20% more for my e-bike than I would have paid had I
purchased a low-end petrol scooter; however, I did not have to pay the lifetime road tax for the
first 5 years, and paid a reduced tax when my 5-year tax holiday ended.
 I do not specify costs in this website because costs vary from model to model, company to
company, state to state, and time to time. The easiest way to obtain information about costing is
through an internet search using the search terms " electric scooter cost India" (without the
quotation marks).

4. Running costs
E-bikes can actually work out more expensive than petrol bikes given the high cost and short life
of the batteries. However, there are many factors to be considered in the final reckoning, and the
reader is strongly recommended to the section of this website on cost analysis.

5. Resale value:
 E-bikes have very low resale value. Owners who want to sell their e-bikes may have difficulty in
finding buyers. If the battery requires replacement, the bike has almost no market value at all,
and is unlikely to fetch more than scrap value.

6. Motor life:
E-bikes may not have the same life as a petrol vehicle because motors may not last as long as
engines. However, motors are replaceable.
[My experience: I used my e-bike for 7+ years over >21,000 km and had had no problems with
the motor during that period.]

7. Battery life:
The most important expense that the owner might bear is that of the batteries. The sealed,
maintenance-free, lead acid batteries have a limited life and have to be replaced if they get
damaged or if they no longer offer a range that is sufficient for the user's needs. Batteries
generally last for about a year; it is rare for batteries to last for 2 years. A lead acid battery set for
an electric scooter set costs about Rs.13,000-19,000, depending on rating, brand, quality, and
warranties. Lithium ion batteries do not seem to be available for electric scooters, as yet (at least
in India); however, whereas these are better than lead acid batteries, they are far more expensive.

Factors that limit a battery's life are:

a) Use. The more you use the bike, the earlier the batteries reach the end of their life. This,
actually, is like most other things under the sun.
b) Time. Lead acid batteries deteriorate with time even if the bike is sparingly used.
c) Overcharging. Lead acid batteries can get permanently damaged if they are overcharged.
 I am presently using mysixth set of batteries in a little over 7 years of use. On two occasions the
original batteries lasted just 6 months but were replaced free because they failed within the
warranty period; the replacements lasted about a year, each. On one occasion, the batteries lasted
for nearly 2 years but gave me poor service during the last 6-9 months. On some occasions, the
lower life of the batteries was probably due to overcharging, something that can be guarded
against. This will be discussed later. Nevertheless, despite the high costs associated with battery
replacement, my overall running costs have probably been the same or lower than what they
might have been had I used a petrol scooter during the same period. Now that the battery cost has
substantially increased, my running costs will clearly exceed that of a petrol scooter.
d) Brand. Branded batteries are probably longer-lasting and better in quality than unbranded
ones.

 In my experience, at different times, dealers and service engineers have labelled different battery
brands as good or poor in quality. There is no consistent guidance, at present.
 My own experience does not favor any particular brand over others, or any brand over unbranded
batteries.
 Note that a set of batteries can permanently die out, all of a sudden, right in the middle of a
journey. You may however have some warning, such as decreased range or power, or decreased
charging time, in the previous week or two.

 I have had the experience of a battery dying out midway between home and workplace. The
batteries could not be recharged to provide any meaningful range, and had to be replaced.

8. Running range:
The range of an e-bike is the distance that the bike will run on a single charge. E-bikes have a
low range. In city riding, it would be risky to expect a range of more than 30 km, even with new
batteries. This means that it would be unwise to travel more than 15 km away from home
(because you would need to travel the same distance back) unless you have an opportunity to
charge the batteries for an hour or longer at your place of halt. This also means that you may not
have enough of charge for unexpected additional travel during the course of the day.

The range of the bike decreases with the life of the batteries, and even with the best of care,
could decrease substantially after a year or so of use. It is not uncommon for the range of the
batteries to decrease to 5-10 km towards the end of their life.

 Some bikes have a greater range than others. This may be because they are less powerful and run
more slowly, or it may be because they have greater battery back-up. The latter bikes are more
expensive.

9. Power and pick-up:

E-bikes have low power and pick-up. Whereas you would be able to ride up slopes such as those
of flyovers in a city, you might have difficulty if the slope is very steep, or if you are carrying a
pillion rider up a steep slope. You also cannot suddenly accelerate from a stationary position, or
suddenly accelerate to overtake a vehicle. This is not really a problem in most circumstances for
most riders, and this problem is less with motors of higher wattage.

 Power, pick-up, and speed are maximum when the battery is fully charged. Power, pick-up, and
speed fall when the battery charge is low.

10. Other things that can go wrong

Service engineers tell me that the motor hardly ever fails; I have certainly had no problems with
the motor during over 7 years of use. At the most, the sensors in the motor may require
replacement, and this is not expensive.

 However, after six and a half years of use, the speed controller suddenly packed up and my bike
stopped running; pushing it was also difficult. I was told that the speed controller can be
repaired, but there is no guarantee whatsoever on the repair. I was charged Rs.5500 for changing
 the speed controller. A small plus point is that the new controller could be expected to give good
service for many years into the future.

11. Servicing, repair, and breakdown maintenance:

If you buy an e-bike, make sure that you have the name and contact number of a
trustworthy breakdown mechanic. E-bikes can be serviced or repaired only by the dealer, or
by persons who have been trained in the job. Most scooter mechanics do not know how to deal
with e-bike problems. The problem can be very simple, such as a wire that has come loose, or a
wire that has been chewed by a rat, or a puncture in the front or back wheel, or almost anything.
Whatever goes wrong, the whole bike stops and nothing will get it going again other than
attention from a qualified e-bike mechanic. Note that even a puncture requires a qualified
mechanic because most of the bike needs to be taken apart just to get the wheel off. God help
you if you get stuck late at night, or on a public holiday, especially if you are far from home.
Either you push the bike home (and you can't do that if you have a puncture) or you leave it
where it is until someone can be brought there to attend to it.

 From my practical experience, it is reasonable to expect to have one or two breakdowns a year.
Punctures and battery trouble have been the commonest problems.

12. Body:
In order to reduce vehicle weight, the body of some e-bikes is made of light material. This can
make the bike fragile in the event of even a minor collision.

 I have suffered cracked bodywork over the front wheel after a minor collision with a vehicle that
suddenly braked in front of me.

13. Storage space:

Electric scooters don't have much storage space below the seat; however, check this out
for the specific model in which you are interested because there could be variations
across models.

4- Learning from primary and secondary data

There is more no. of petrol vehicles in the market than the Electric ones.
Media awareness towards electric bikes is very low.
There is a lack of awareness amongst respondents about the benefits of electric bikes.
Female customers are now the biggest target segment of EV Industry.
Purchasing decisions of an electric bike is not much influenced by the advertisements.
 Majority of respondents believe that Electric bikes are expensive.
There are no well-established players in the market, with a good brand name.

Lack of regulatory authority and safety Standards are a major concern for the industry in the
long run. High Charging time, Lower Mileage, low Speed, Less battery life, Durability are the
major technical issues faced by the electric bike industry.

Lack of government support in the form of subsidy and infrastructure development, is

affecting the industry.

5- Recommendation
More advertisement is needed for the vehicle as many people are not aware of electric bike

E-bikes are used only for short distance because of low battery capacity, so manufacturers
should concentrate on research and development to increase the capacity of e-bike

Another major problem in e-bike is the need for frequent charging of the batteries, to
overcome this problem charging centers should be opened at various places.

The first major concern for the company is to take concrete steps to improve the level of
awareness among the people. Therefore company has to first educate the people about the
product by following methods:
Visit the school and colleges to teach the students on the need to go for a greener Technology.
Educate the parents and children about the benefits of having a bike with slow speed, as it
makes them a balanced rider.
Organize Road Shows and Exhibitions to educate the people.
Team Up with Environment Protection Groups, NGOs to promote the concept of Go Green.
Highlight the economic viability of the product against the rising fuel price.

To fully charge an Electric Bike it takes around 6-8 hours, which is very long and it is
practically impossible to charge on the go. To eliminate such problems the Company has to start
investing on R&D more focus must be on developing Indigenous technology rather than going
for
 Technology Transfer from foreign countries.

To ride a Petrol bike it is necessary to have a Driving License, hence it is more suited for the
age-group of 1860.

Provide finance option, EMI by collaborating with any Private sector bank or financial
Institution.

6-How recommendation is going to solve the problem

As an eco-friendly product it is more suitable for city as it can reduce the emission of harmful
gases and thereby it can reduce the atmospheric pollution. Due to frequent increase in the fuel
prices, the electrically charged vehicles seem to be the cheapest one compared to the traditional
vehicles. Ebikes are more suitable for rural areas where the numbers of petrol bunks are not
adequate, so that the rural people can charge the vehicle with the help of electricity.
Electric Bike industry is in nascent stage still in India, with lots of apprehension about its
durability and quality being offered. While doing this study it became more and more clear that
lack of awareness, regulatory authority, quality issues are some of the biggest challenges in front
of the industry. But with ever increasing Petrol prices and high pollution, sooner Electric Bikes
are going to put a serious challenge to the Petrol Bikes. At this stage the primary focus of the
company shall lie on R&D, improving quality and educating people. So with Government
support in the form of developing the necessary infrastructure and subsidy to the end customer,
there is possibility of Electric Bike Industry is getting ready for a golden feature.

Reference-
 https://www.slideshare.net/hemanthcrpatna/a-report-on-consumer-awareness-and-
perception-towards-e-bikes
 http://www.allresearchjournal.com/archives/2017/vol3issue5/PartF/3-4-111-169.pdf
 file:///C:/Users/kushc/Downloads/2-5-20-839.pdf
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