PV & EV can change CV of India
Q. What gave you the confidence to foray into the electric vehicle segment by launching an e-scooter?
Being a Solar company, we believed that as PV (Solar) will fuel the most of future growth of Power, similarly EV will be future of Transportation. With marriage of PV with EV, one can literally have a ZERO Opex transportation solution. The Rooftop solar on your house or work place will charge the batteries of EV and you have a petrol pump in-house.
Q. How has been the initial Response? In which cities have You seen the most successful Adoption of your e-scooters?
The initial response is very encouraging. Ujaas as a brand has a very powerful presence in the market. People relate ‘Ujaas’ Brand to new and green technologies. We are having dealers in 60-70 cities, which are in a range of 500 Kms of Indore. We are now poised to serve the pan India and are inviting dealers from all over the country.
Q. What is your strategy to raise awareness about your e-scooters, especially in tier-2 And tier-3 cities?
Our e Scooters are sold mostly in Tier-2 & Tier 3 cities, as in Tier 1 cities mostly people live in multistory, where charging need some extra efforts. Although people do not understand that for charging e-Scooters you need a simple household 5 Amp power plug. They often confuse it with charging stations of 4 wheeler, whereas 2W charger is like a laptop charger.
Q. In your view, what is india’s potential in the electric two wheeler segment?
Approx. 2.5 Million 2 W are sold in India every year, it is a very big market. The avg. Petrol scooter cost between 65-70K, where as avg. e-Scooter is in range of 50-60K. The average cost per KM in petrol scooter is 2.5-3 Rs. Per Km, where as running cost of e Scooters is 10-15 paisa per KM.
Q. What are some challenges In terms of mass adoption of Electric vehicles in india? What Steps are you undertaking to Address these challenges?
Range Anxiety. This is one of the main challenge, without realising that the avg. run per day is around 25-30 Kms only, they aspire for more mileage. Second challenge of charging time is now been addressed by advanced Lithium Ion batteries, which can be charged in 3-4 hours and more than 50% can be charged with an hour.
Q. Please comment on the Environmental impact of evs. Also, what will be the impact Of increased ev penetration on Power demand?
Most of the states in India are now power surplus, hence, EVs are the next growth engine for Electricity companies. And as I said the majority of future electricity generation will come from Green sources, the effect on environment is positive only.
Q. What is your take on the Government’s push on EV Segment? What other policies/Steps do you recommend to Boost ev adoption in india?
The Govt. is going in right direction and making positive changes to facilitate the EV penetration. I strongly feel that all the monetary (read subsidy) support should be given to development and creation of Lithium Battery manufacturing in the country. And I’m happy to note that Niti Aayog is working in this direction with zeal and passion.
Q. Many startups and giant auto Manufacturers are betting Big on e-scooters. How do you Differentiate in the competitive Space?
This is a big market and there will be place for many players, if one can identify the correct segment, focus on good quality products, extend good support and launch good models.
Q. What is your future vision? Will you also be looking at Electric three-/four-wheelers?
As of now we are focusing only on Electric 2 Wheeler in near term.
