[jfkrrorj]

> Most European EV sales that aren't Tesla are European brands like

Bikes are still "vehicles". Problem is that stuff like Tesla are luxuries, we simply can not afford that! Bikes are an alternative on the same market.

An alternative that is heavily advertised by our governments! If there is a significant difference between car and bike, you should tell our government!

Not everyone has resources to treat their car as an IPhone!

[alephnerd]

Absolutely, yet at the end of the day Electric Bikes are not treated as EVs in colloquial conversation and are not a direct substitute for a Car in most cases. And I'm sure yk this too.

[jfkrrorj]

It is direct substitute! You can absolutely carry family of 5 and furniture on bike! See Denmark and India!

[alephnerd]

> You can absolutely carry family of 5 and furniture on bike! See Denmark and India!

I can't speak to Denmark, but in India people resort to buying electric bikes because of income. The moment they earn enough to pay for a car loan, they go for it, as people in my ancestral town have done.

That said, even in India, most 2 wheeler/electric bike sales are largely being driven by Ola - India's Uber/Tesla/AWS - because they are subsidizing Ola drivers to buy Ola Electric bikes. And that is what is driving most E-Bike sales in India.

That, even in India the sale of electric bikes has fallen significantly [0]

At the end of the day, in a market like India, if you can afford a car, you buy a car. And if you're buying a car in a market like India, you'd tend to prefer an SUV due to the negative stigma against sedans ("sedans are for p*ssies" mindset is the norm, and drives the popularity of vehicles is HC as the Mahindra Thar) [1][2]

The same mentality exists in the Indian 2-Wheeler/Bike community, with the KTM being treated as the gold standard.

The same "macho" style mentality that makes Pickup trucks popular in North America and Thailand is the same one that exists in India for SUVs (ICE or Electric) or Two Wheelers.

IMO, EVs and especially EV Sedans have done well in the Chinese market because the status symbol ICE car in China has historically been the Audi A6/A8, but in India the equivalent ICE car status symbol wise has been the Jaguar Land Rover [3]

[0] - https://www.cnbctv18.com/auto/electric-two-wheeler-sales-dro...

[1] - https://motoroctane.com/news/267798-why-is-everyone-buying-s...

[2] - https://www.hindustantimes.com/business/why-the-mahindra-tha...

[3] - https://www.cartoq.com/indian-politicians-and-their-land-rov...