India’s electric two-wheeler market is fast becoming mainstream. In 2025 alone, EV two-wheeler sales touched nearly 12.8 lakh units, registering an 11.36% year-on-year growth. This surge reflects not only consumer interest in sustainable mobility, but also a deeper shift towards software-defined vehicles.
Electric scooters and motorcycles today feature intelligent and connected systems running complex software stacks. Real-time navigation, remote diagnosis, app-based vehicle control, over-the-air (OTA) updates and predictive maintenance offer riders with convenience and smarter mobility solutions. For manufacturers, it marks the shift to an entirely new technology ecosystem.
However, as these electric two-wheelers become increasingly software-centric, cybersecurity threats are no longer theoretical but become real and potentially disruptive. Hence, it becomes imperative for OEMs and ecosystem partners to embed cybersecurity across the two-wheeler’s development lifecycle, rather than being treated as an afterthought.
Cybersecurity Challenges for Electric Two-Wheelers
- Connected interfaces: Smart electric two-wheelers communicate continuously with cloud servers, mobile applications, backend platforms, charging infrastructure and other vehicles. These communications create multiple digital touchpoints via telematics control units, Bluetooth modules, GPS systems and mobile integration – each of these becoming a potential entry point for cyberattacks. The risks range from data theft to remote immobilisation to even manipulating vehicle parameters.
- Charging Infrastructure: With rising electric vehicle adoption, EV charging infrastructure is also rapidly expanding. Each of these chargers across cities and highways though aren’t just power outlets, but IoT-enabled devices connected to power grids, network management system and even payment gateways. This interconnectedness makes it a target for cyberattacks, disrupting services and even manipulating billing systems. As the charging network across India expands, securing the infrastructure becomes as crucial as securing the EV itself.
- Data privacy & rider safety: Electric two-wheelers generate a significant amount of rider data, like vehicle location, riding patterns, maintenance history, user credentials and battery performance. While these are primarily used to enhance user experience, it also raises privacy concerns. Cybersecurity here is imperative, as any breach of data could pose as a security and safety risk for riders.
Regulations and Standards
Recognising the risks, global regulators have set up frameworks towards ensuring cybersecurity among electric vehicles. Internationally, frameworks such as the ISO/SAE 21434 define cybersecurity requirements across the vehicle’s development lifecycle. In addition, UNECE WP.29 mandates manufacturers to integrate cybersecurity management systems in participating countries.
India also has standards like AIS 189 and AIS 190, focussing on cybersecurity management, secure over-the-air software updates and risk assessment. These standards are being aligned with global best practices.
Secure Architectures Built from the Ground Up
- CAN and LIN Protocols: CAN (Controller Area Network) and LIN (Local Interconnect Network) are critical automotive communication protocols. While CAN is the primary protocol supporting real-time data exchange between key modules like motor controllers, battery management system and braking systems, LIN manages less critical sub-systems. As electric two-wheelers become more connected, additional safeguards must be integrated to prevent unauthorised command injection. This includes encryption layers and message authentication, among others.
- Secure Bootloaders: These systems ensure only authenticated firmware runs on the system. While digital signatures verify software authenticity, encryption protects data in transit between vehicle modules and cloud platforms. This, when combined with HSM (Hardware Security Modules) embedded in ECUs, creates a foundational security perimeter.
- Real-time Monitoring: As cyber threats evolve continuously, it becomes essential to have real-time monitoring embedded into the system. This is where IDS (Intrusion Detection Systems) come into play, detecting anomalies in network traffic patterns. Also, cloud-based monitoring platforms track suspicious behaviour across fleets, while endpoint monitoring detect any unusual activities at charging stations. These systems allow connected vehicles to detect, respond, contain and mitigate cyberattacks faster, minimising potential damage.
- Supply-chain Assurances: As electric two-wheeler OEMs source software and hardware from various suppliers globally, it becomes imperative that independent testing reports, secure coding audits and certifications are in place, ensuring sufficient traceability. Security must extend beyond OEMs and encompass the entire ecosystem, from design and production to aftersales updates.
Security as a strategy imperative for the future
As modern two-wheelers enter a new era of sustainability, electric scooters and motorcycles are evolving into software-defined connected mobility platforms. It is imperative cybersecurity also evolves alongside them. It is important for riders to trust that their vehicles are safe, which further influences not only brand reputation, but also long-term competitiveness.
Embedding security across the lifecycle and ecosystem of electric two-wheelers, will define the next phase of growth. This will also ensure India’s expanding EV ecosystem scales confidently in a connected world.
