What urged you to enter the EV space and establish Batt:RE?
After having spent two decades in the telecom industry, my cofounder and I were on the lookout for the next sunrise industry, which had the potential to touch a billion lives. We zeroed in on electric mobility as we strongly felt that the next couple of decades will belong to this industry since it has the potential to redefine the way people commute. This is our small yet significant contribution to mother earth, and we are happy to share that we have 30,000 scooters on road and we are helping our customers save Rs 3.6 crore worth of fuel every month and reducing 4.8 lakh kilograms of CO2 on a monthly basis.
What was the inspiration behind the Batt:RE name?
Colloquially, the people in North India call all-electric vehicles Battery Wali Gadi. We drew our inspiration from that and named our company Batt:RE, with RE, in the end, meaning Renewable Energy, symbolizing our solidarity to better the world.
How does Batt:RE stand out from other EV players?
Batt:RE’s biggest strength lies in the quality of the product. This is coupled with a very robust sales and service network. In just three years of operations, we have a presence in 20 states, with 400 dealerships. We are today present from Kashmir all the way to Kanyakumari.
You’ve recently launched a new scooter- Stor:ie. Where does this sit in your portfolio in terms of positioning and how is it different from the ones you launched previously?
Earlier our offerings were only limited to slow-speed scooters and we identified a need for adding high-speed scooters to cater to a larger audience base. We began working on Stor:ie two years back, with the objective of creating a minimalistic product that is all-encompassing. With a long battery range, an increased foot space and broader seats, Stor:ie was designed to be ideal for Indian commuters. Our insights and interactions from our existing customers and channel partners came in handy while working on specifications for Stor:ie, and we are proud to introduce a product which helps us actualize our vision for a better tomorrow.
There are many features that make Stor:ie stand out in a day and age where customers value options more than ever. Stor:ie comes armoured with metal panels. It has a smart TFT display which is connected to the customer’s phone through our Batt:RE application. On it, consumers get navigation assist, call alerts, an option to choose riding modes, distance to empty and features that completely eliminate range anxiety. Stor:ie motor and controller are manufactured by Lucas TVS, one of the best in the world. It comes with a 60V 52Ah, 3.1kWh battery pack which offers a range of 132km on a single charge. Its large footboard and seat are designed keeping in mind the use cases of Indian customers. And all these come at a very competitive price of Rs 89,600.
You’ve been in the EV space for five years which is long enough to assess how the next five years for this space will shape up. What trends do you foresee picking up?
As I mentioned, I see lots of similarities between the telecom industry and the electric mobility space. Remember the phones we used 10-15 years back, the features that were offered back then, and how they have completely evolved in a very short time. We are currently in the early stage of the evolution of electric mobility. We are going to witness a huge amount of evolution in this space right from the batteries – density, safety and chemistries. Similarly, the charging time, swapping infrastructure, connectivity options and the entire ecosystem is all set to witness huge improvements. And as I said, it is all set to touch a billion lives in a much shorter time than what we expect today.
What are your thoughts on the policies surrounding the EV space and is there something more that can be done from a governance perspective?
There is a huge push from the Government to increase the proliferation of Electric Mobility in India. The policies and incentives are in place, and the main objective behind them is to build India as the EV hub for the world. And we have seen good traction in this space owing to these interventions. The ecosystem is building at a rapid pace which is helping companies like us to create products without any imports. It is our pleasure to share that our new product Stor:ie is developed with 100 percent Indian parts and components, which was an impossible dream three years back when we started our production.
