Anything Under 150cc Power Will Need to be Electric
The electric motorcycle revolution is something I talk about a lot. Now it seems India has plans to kick that into high gear for its market. As you probably know, India is a huge market for motorcycles and scooters. Most of their bikes are small displacement, lower-powered machines, too. According to RideApart, the Indian government wants any motorcycle or scooter with three wheels to be electric, and anything with displacement less than 150cc to be electric.
Original reports indicated that all two and three-wheeled vehicles could be electrified by 2025. Now it seems bikes with an engine displacement over 150cc would be able to continue with internal combustion engines. All those small scooters and low-powered bikes? Yep, they would have to be electric.
This is a huge thing for electric bikes. While the Indian market won’t directly translate to more electric motorcycles in the U.S. it could indirectly lead to it. The move forces motorcycle manufacturers to focus on electrification. Why? Because India is such a huge market. Almost 22 million motorcycles and scooters were sold there up to March 31. That’s a huge number. You can bet that manufacturers aren’t going to miss out on that much of the global market.
At this point, it’s not totally set in stone, but India Times says it thinks the government will mandate electric bikes under these rules soon. This could honestly help change everything. Some folks aren’t going to like it, but there’s little stopping it now.