Kunal Arya’s electric scooter stuttered when he first tried to zip down the Hisar roads in 2019. India was yet to pave the way for a smooth ride for green mobility. Policy announcements spoke of the future, startups pitched grand visions, and global investors were beginning to zero in on the sector. But on the ground, the experience seemed messy. Batteries were not new to Arya, thanks to his family’s inverter battery business, which was deeply embedded in India’s power-backup ecosystem. What was new was the sudden surge in demand for electric two-wheelers sold through small dealerships – often with limited understanding of long-term maintenance, component durability, or after-sales obligations. “I entered the EV space as a dealer, not as a founder,” recalled Arya. “That meant I faced customers directly when something went wrong.” In 2021, Arya was one of the earliest in a market that zoomed to 12.80 Lakh units at the end of 2025. Despite his initial success as Hisar’s top dealer of Yo Bikes, one of India’s early-day electric two-wheeler brands, there was a sense of unease. Most scooters were imported directly from China with minimal localisation. Breakdowns were rampant, spare parts were slow to arrive, and… Read MoreInc42 Media
