MUMBAI: More than two years after organised players like Kinetic, Hero Electric and Mahindra & Mahindra forayed into the growing e-rickshaw market they are yet to gain a toehold in this space. An electric-vehicle revolution is gaining ground in India, home to about 1.5 million battery-powered, three wheeled rickshaws — a fleet bigger than the number of electric passenger cars sold in China since 2011.Since 2015, battery-powered rickshaw sales have been growing at 20% annually, replacing cycle rickshaws. However, most of these sales have come from the unorganised sector, sending the larger players back to the drawing board, experts said. As per the Vaahan portal data, unorganised players sell 10,000 e-rickshaws a month against about 1,500 to 2,000 a month for organised players.The unorganised sector has been peddling e-rickshaws of poor quality, with lead acid batteries that need to be changed every 6-8 months with no proper warranty. They are a safety hazard and almost like moving coffins, said Sulajja Firodia Motwani, CEO of Kinetic Green Energy & Power Solutions.E-rickshaws are sold predominantly in North India, across Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Delhi and Bihar as one of the most effective means of last mile connectivity and a cheaper mode of transportation. What is giving a fillip to the unorganised sector is clearly the cost which starts from as low as Rs 40,000 for an e-rickshaw compared to more than a lakh for one from the organised players.Mahesh Babu, CEO of Mahindra Electric, whose company launched the Treo range last year, said “affordability, convenience to the user and more earning potential to the driver were the reasons for the segment to boom. The unorganised segment was dominated by leadacid based e-rickshaws till the e-rickshaw regulation was notified in 2018.” Mahindra sold only 1,500 units of lithium-ion based Treo in FY20, which analysts say, constitute a small numbers.Though company has sold more than 15,000 units of their lead-based eAlfa, the cause for worry is that lithium-powered batteries will take some time to gain acceptability, among users, Babu said. With the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India 2 or FAME 2 subsidy, the price gap between e-autos and e-rickshaws, which are mostly imported from China, is hardly 15%. The government’s phased manufacturing program under scheme will help made-in-India EVs, says Motwani.Experts said the unorganised sector had a headstart before erickshaw guidelines were notified. And it may not be easy to break their stronghold in this sector, especially as they command a premium of 15-20%. “Many of the unorganised players are getting registered, which will get them into the mainstream market, thereby preventing any unfair advantages. If they ply, they will eventually get caught which will force them to drive on the organised route,” said Sohinder Gill, CEO, Hero Electric and director general of the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles India.All of this has not deterred players like Exide jumping onto the erickshaw bandwagon with its recently announced Neo. Companies like M&M are bullish on this sector having invested Rs 1,000 crore in its e-vehicle capacity.