TVS revises IQube prices by Rs 17,000-20,000

TVS Motor Company on Thursday increased the price of its TVS IQube scooter by Rs 17,000 to Rs 20,000 depending on the variant, making the announcement after the government’s FAME II programme revised subsidies for electric two-wheelers (E2W).

SoftBank-backed Ola Electric and Ather Energy increased prices of their scooters earlier, reports said. Ola Electric is reportedly increasing the prices of its S1 and S1 Pro scooters by Rs 15,000 each.

“TVS Motor is spearheading the EV transformation narrative in the country. Backed by this electrification journey, TVS iQube recorded a sales milestone of 1,00,000 units for its range of scooters in the last financial year. In May 2023, TVS iQube crossed 20,000 units of retail and continues to have a healthy booking pipeline of over 30,000 units,” said K N Radhakrishnan, director and CEO of TVS Motor Company.

“FAME II will gradually reduce over the next few quarters. TVS Motor will continue to deliver delightful product options and great value proposition to propel the electrification and green energy penetration in two-wheelers in the country. In line with TVS Motor’s commitment of being customer centric, the company will offer a loyalty benefit programme for the customers of TVS iQube who have made bookings till May 20 this year, for a limited period to ease the cost burden post the revision in FAME II subsidy. Additionally, new customers can also avail (of) new prices without having to bear the full burden of FAME II revision on booking the vehicle starting June 1, 2023,” he said.

The government launched FAME II–Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles–in 2019 to support 1 million electric two-wheelers, 5 lakh three-wheelers, 55,000 four-wheelers and 7,000 buses. The programme had an outlay of around Rs 10,000 crore. At first, manufacturers like Hero Electric and Okinawa Autotech came under scrutiny for allegedly flouting norms on minimum localization.

Companies like TVS Motor, Ola Electric, Ather and Hero MotoCorp allegedly kept their prices artificially low to claim FAME-II subsidy benefits. The government, reacting to the controversy, slashed incentives to 15 per cent of ex-factory price of electric two-wheelers from 40 per cent before. The demand incentive was reduced from Rs 15,000 per kwh to Rs 10,000 per kwh.