Charged Up By Demand From B2B Companies, Hero Electric To Design Customised E-Scooters For Segment

Hero Electric, India’s biggest electric two-wheeler company, is witnessing a steady increase in demand for electric scooters from companies that specialise in last-mile deliveries. Logistics providers of e-commerce companies such as Flipkart or those hired by Amazon and others, as well as food delivery agents of Zomato and Swiggy are switching to electric scooters. With an eye on this segment, Delhi-based Hero Electric is developing e-scooters specifically for institutional, business-to-business buyers. According to a senior Hero Electric executive, such e-scooters promise better cost dynamics than personal scooters. “It is difficult to convince a personal buyer to give up petrol and switch to electric. But in the B2B segment it is much easier. To ride 80 km, someone may be using two litres of petrol, which is more than Rs 160 a day. But in the case of electric, the same range can be done in four units of electricity, which is around Rs 30. This is a very appealing cost proposition for the B2B customer,” Sohinder Gill, CEO, Hero Electric, said in an interview with Moneycontrol. Electric two-wheelers saw a jump of 20 percent in sales to 152,000 units in FY20, up from 126,000 units in FY19, according to the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicle.