Kinetic Green Energy & Power Solutions, which has partnered with Chinese EV major Aima Technology Group to co-design and develop electric two-wheelers for the Indian market, plans to invest around Rs 80-100 crore on the project, which entails three new models this year itself, its founder-CEO Sulajja Firodia Motwani has said.
Pune-based Kinetic Green entered the rapidly-growing domestic electric two-wheeler space last year, after establishing its presence in the e-three-wheeler segment, with two scooter models — Zing and Zoom. The Kinetic group had earlier in the mid-1980s partnered with Japanese auto major Honda Motor to manufacture scooters.
"We have aggressive Rs 500 crore investment plans for our electric vehicles business, which includes capacity creation, product development and market penetration, among others, over the next five years. For this particular project (collaboration with Aima), we are looking at investing about Rs 80-100 crore," Motwani told PTI. This investment will be made into specific products development and capacity creation, she said.
The Shanghai-listed Aima has a global presence across 87 countries. With global sales of more than 50 million e-two-wheeler units, the company has over 1,000 models in its product portfolio, comprising electric two-, three- and four-wheelers. Aima also leads the industry in technology development and R&D, with key focus on design, 3D digital modelling, IoT and swapping solutions.
Noting that joining hands with Aima, which is a leader in the global EV space, is a big milestone for the Kinetic Group in its EV business, she said the idea is to co-develop electric two-wheelers for the Indian market and tap this large opportunity which is at an inflection point.
Currently, the penetration of e-two-wheelers is just about 2-3 per cent, which is expected to go to as high as 30 per cent in the next 10 years, she said. She added that the company has received good demand for its two scooter models, with sales of around 4,000-5,000 units per month in just 4-5 months of the company's foray, and that shows the strength of the brand in the e-two-wheeler market.
With this partnership, Kinetic Green is looking to aggressively build up its portfolio in the domestic market, she noted. "We are developing a ground-up new electric two wheeler, which is an electric version of a very convenient mobility vehicle, for delivery and small town mobility. This EV will come out in July this year. "Then there will be three models from the Kinetic-Aima collaboration stable in the next 12 months," Motwani stated. So, Kinetic Green will have a total of six models for commute, premium as well as delivery segments, at different price points, she said.
The company currently has a capacity to produce 50,000 vehicles per annum. It is commissioning a new facility to add another one lakh unit capacity immediately, in addition to one lakh units production through outsourcing, which currently stands at 50,000 units per annum, Motwani said. The plan is to have a total capacity of 2.5 lakh units by the end of next fiscal and eventually double it in the next three years, she added.
"So our aim is to build capacity as well as new products with our own facility as well as contract manufacturing," she said. Initially, the two-wheelers developed under the collaboration will be marketed under the Kinetic brand and acknowledge the Aima technology. The two partners have explored launching co-branded models in the future, including bringing new global brands to India. Kinetic Green is following a strategy of having its own technology development as well collaboration technology development model and it will have a combination of both, Motwani said. Within a year, Kinetic and Aima further plan to explore a joint venture where the Indian firm shall leverage its brand and production capabilities and Aima can utilise its technology, R&D and global outreach to expand massively.
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"We want to be among the top five EV companies and we are looking at building scale, leveraging our own very strong brand," she added. All its models will be compliant with the government's FAME incentives scheme, with a high level of local content, Motwani said, adding the company is creating an entire ecosystem equally rapidly to avoid supply constraints and bottlenecks.
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