Two in three rickshaws sold in India are electric
Electric share of new vehicle sales in India by type, 2025: three-wheelers, two-wheelers and cars. IEA rounded figures.
Over two-thirds of the three-wheelers sold in India in 2025 were electric, against nearly 4% of cars.
India sold almost five electric three-wheelers for every electric car in 2025. It is the world's biggest market for them.
Electric scooters and motorbikes add almost 1.3 million more. India's switch to electric is running on two and three wheels, not four.
the numbers
| Electric share of sales (%) | Electric sales (k) | |
|---|---|---|
| three-wheelers (rickshaws) | 70 | 800 |
| two-wheelers (scooters, motorbikes) | 6 | 1,300 |
| cars | 4 | 165 |
source notes & method
All values are as stated in the IEA's text, which rounds them: electric three-wheeler sales rose 15% to 'almost 800,000', 'almost 70%' of three-wheeler sales ('over two-thirds'); electric two-wheeler sales grew 5% to 'less than 1.3 million', 'around 6%' of two-wheeler sales (India is the second-largest electric two-wheeler market after China). Electric car sales rose 75% to 165,000, 'nearly 4%' of car sales (https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2026/trends-in-electric-cars). Chart bars use these rounded figures, so true values are slightly below the bar for 'almost'/'less than' items. 'Almost five per car' is derived (800,000 / 165,000 = 4.8). Three-wheelers include passenger and goods rickshaws. The final sentence of takeaway 3 is an interpretation.
Published 3 Nov 2026
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