Notice to dealers selling high-speed EVs as low-speed ones

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has issued a notification to State governments about a few electric scooter dealers who are selling high-speed electric scooters under the guise of low-speed e-scooters.

According to current rules, all EVs with speeds under 25kph do not require type approval and can be directly sold without certification. However, an influx of higher battery capacity vehicles with speeds as high as 40-50kph are being sold disguised as low-speed two-wheelers across the country, and this has resulted in the ministry red flagging this development.

MoRTH said these high battery, low-speed vehicles contravene the Central Motor Vehicles Rules Act (CMVR Act), 1989, and that, under specific provisions mandated by the CMVR Act, appropriate action must be taken against dealers found guilty. Dealers are selling such vehicles without approval or factoring in vehicle identification norms and insurance, and are even tampering with the verification undertaken by the testing agencies.

Citing CMVR rules, MoRTH noted that besides complying with the speed cap of 25kph, the total weight of the vehicle minus the batteries (unladen weight) should not cross 60kg. Such vehicles should be fitted with suitable brakes and reflectors both at the front and rear.

A report by SMEV in 2020 suggested that in the electric two-wheeler segment, a majority or 97% sales came from electric scooters, with the rest comprising electric motorcycles and cycles. Of these two-wheelers — low-speed scooters (max speed 25kph), and which do not need registration with the transport authorities — contributed 90% of overall electric two-wheelers sales.