Tag: ev

EV Battery Swapping Firm Gogoro Announces Electric Scooter Partnership With Swiggy for Last-Mile Delivery

Electric vehicle battery-swapping solutions provider Gogoro on Thursday announced a partnership with Swiggy to promote its electric Smartscooters to last-mile delivery partners of the on-demand convenience delivery platform across India.

Gogoro and Swiggy will provide a seamless path for riders to adopt sustainable electric transportation and improve their business efficiency, Gogoro Founder and CEO Horace Luke said.

“Partnering with Swiggy, a leading player in the industry, to provide access to Gogoro Smartscooters and battery swapping is essential in successfully transforming India’s urban fleets to electric,” he added.

Swiggy Head of Operations Mihir Shah said, “This partnership with Gogoro is another key step in our commitment to creating greener and cost-effective solutions for our delivery fleet.”

Shah further said, “Gogoro’s battery swapping technology represents a new generation of electric refuelling that has proven successful on a mass scale for last-mile delivery, and we look forward to working with them to transform hyperlocal deliveries to be more sustainable and efficient in India.” Swiggy 2021 announced its commitment to cover 8 lakh kilometres every day through EV deliveries.

On the other hand, the Gogoro platform delivers a two-wheeler battery-swapping system that enables delivery operators to manage their fleets and deliveries more efficiently and sustainably.

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Indian EV Charging Startup Exponent Eyes Funding to Grow Rapid Business

Exponent Energy, an Indian rapid charging startup, is in talks with new and existing investors to raise money to expand its energy services business to three-wheeled passenger vehicles and buses, its chief executive told Reuters in an interview. 

The maker of electric vehicle batteries that can be fully charged in 15 minutes using its rapid charger, expects to close the round by end of 2023, its Chief Executive Arun Vinayak said.

He declined to give details of the amount but said it would be bigger than the $13 million (nearly Rs. 107 crore) Exponent raised last year from investors including venture capital firm Lightspeed Venture Partners.

India wants to electrify its road transport including buses, commercial vehicles, cars and scooters in an effort to reduce pollution and cut fuel imports. Meanwhile, clean delivery fleets help e-commerce and consumer goods companies meet their own emission targets.

This is giving a boost to Indian startups, such as Exponent, which currently makes electric vehicle batteries and provides a network of fast chargers for cargo company Altigreen, with its batteries now fitted in over 200 three-wheeled cargo vehicles.

Exponent has an order book for another 400 cargo vehicles and 30 buses, Vinayak said. 

By the end of 2025 it expects to power a total of 25,000 vehicles and become profitable with revenues of around Rs. 6 billion, he added. 

Exponent’s 15-minute charging means vehicles can be fitted with a smaller battery — the most expensive component — making the EVs cheaper and more accessible, Vinayak said. It also makes the charging business more viable because of faster turnaround times. Altigreen’s three-wheelers have a range of 70 to 95km on a single battery charge, he said.

“Because the battery is almost 30 percent smaller, the vehicle price comes down significantly. That’s the one big advantage,” he said.

Exponent uses water-based technology to cool the battery while charging which prevents overheating.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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Micromax Exploring Electric Vehicle Venture Following Decline in Smartphone Sales, Layoffs: Report

Micromax is looking to enter the electric vehicle manufacturing space in India, according to a report. The New Delhi-based phone manufacturer has faced stiff competition from Chinese brands in the country and reportedly laid off employees across the country, while senior executives have also exited the firm. The developments — including efforts to start making EVs in the country that would compete with offerings from Ather Energy, Matter Aera, and Ola Electric — come after Micromax has seen smartphone shipments continue to decline in the country.

According to a TechCrunch report, Micromax’s layoffs and the exit of its top executives including the Chief Product Officer and Chief Business Officer over the past few months are a result of the company’s attempts to foray into the EV manufacturing sector. Co-Founder Vikas Jain — who replaced Co-Founder Rahul Sharma as Managing Director after he resigned in April 2021 — has also departed the firm as per the report.

The smartphone maker became the top smartphone maker in India in August 2014 when it dethroned market leader Samsung. Back in 2014, the company had announced that it would offer smartphones running on Microsoft’s mobile operating system in addition to Android smartphones. The firm was also the 10th largest phone brand a year later. However, the arrival of Chinese smartphone makers like Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo and their competitive pricing led to the brand struggling to retain its popularity in the country in subsequent years.

In February, the company’s founders Rajesh Agarwal, Sumeet Kumar, and Vikas Jain formed a new firm with the name Micromax Mobility, according to the report, which cites three former employees who state that the new venture will initially focus on two-wheeler EVs. Two sources also told TechCrunch that the firm is revamping an office in Gurugram as part of its efforts to foray into the mobility sector.

While Micromax is yet to make a formal announcement related to its plans, its purported EV venture would compete in a busy market that includes popular brands such as Ather Energy, Matter Aera, and Ola Electric. The four-wheeler EV segment already includes several other brands such as Tata, Hyundai, MG, Maruti, and BYD that offer a range of vehicles at different prices in the country.

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MG Comet EV ‘Gamer Edition’ With Gaming-Inspired Design and Interiors Launched in India

MG Comet EV is now available in a special ‘Gamer Edition’ trim, which is designed to appeal to gamers and young buyers. Priced at Rs. 64,999 over and above the base cost of the car itself, the Gamer Edition is available across all three variants of the MG Comet EV – Pace, Play, and Plush. The Comet electric vehicle was launched in India in April 2023, and is touted as among India’s smallest passenger vehicles. The compact car is priced at Rs. 7,98,000 onwards (ex-showroom) in India for the Pace variant, going up to Rs. 9,98,000 (ex-showroom) for the Plush variant.

MG Comet EV ‘Gamer Edition’ price and booking details

As mentioned, the MG Comet EV ‘Gamer Edition’ is available for all three current variants of the car, at an additional price of Rs. 64,999 over and above the base cost of the car and variant itself. Interested buyers can book the ‘Gamer Edition’ of the Comet EV online or at MG dealerships across India.

MG Comet EV ‘Gamer Edition’ features

The ‘Gamer Edition’ trim on the MG Comet EV is largely aesthetic and design oriented, with that car’s features and options remaining dependent on the variant of the vehicle you purchase. The new Gamer Edition trim has been conceptualised and designed in collaboration with popular gaming streamer and influencer Mortal (Naman Mathur).

MG Comet EV Gamer Edition’s aesthetics are focused around gaming culture, with special accessories and garnishing touches such as side mouldings, carpet mats, interior inserts, body graphics, steering wheel cover, and seat covers adding to the specific design elements for the car. The design cues and aesthetic will appeal to young drivers over and above the existing small, urban car appeal of the Comet EV.

The ‘Gamer Edition’ comes with special accessories, including themed mats and a steering wheel cover

 

The electric vehicle, launched in India by MG in April 2023, is among the smallest mainstream passenger vehicles that you can buy right now, and is pitched as an urban-friendly solution for beginner drivers and short runs. The size of the car will appeal to city drivers, apart from the typically lower running costs of electric vehicles.

Additionally, depending on the variant, the car is fairly well equipped in terms of technology, smart features, and having a connected infotainment system. The MG Comet EV is available in only automatic transmission across all three variants, and has a stated driving range of up to 230km on a single charge, with a charging time of seven hours for a full charge.

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China’s BYD Tells India JV Partner It Wants to Drop $1 Billion EV Investment Plan

China’s BYD has told its India joint-venture partner it would shelve plans for a new $1-billion (roughly Rs. 8,225 crore) investment to build electric cars after its investment proposal faced scrutiny from New Delhi, two people with knowledge of the discussions said.

BYD and its partner, privately held Megha Engineering and Infrastructures, submitted a proposal to the Indian government in April to jointly build electric cars in India, Reuters reported earlier this month.

But in the initial review, officials from three Indian ministries, including finance and external affairs, raised what two Indian officials described as security concerns about investment from the Chinese company and signalled opposition.

BYD executives told Megha Engineering last week that the battery and EV maker wanted to drop pursuit of the investment, according to the two people with knowledge of that exchange.

It was not immediately clear whether BYD could have second-thoughts, and as of Thursday BYD had not formally withdrawn the investment proposal from government review, the two officials with knowledge of the review said.

BYD, China’s largest EV maker, declined to comment on the status of its investment proposal and whether it would pull the plan to produce electric cars in India.

In a statement to Reuters, the company said it has had a presence in India for 16 years, selling both passenger cars and electric-drive buses.

India’s finance, external affairs and home ministry did not reply to an email seeking comment. Megha Engineering did not respond to request to comment.

During a meeting last week, Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering urged BYD to wait for more clarity on the situation before moving to drop the electric cars manufacturing plan, according to the two people with knowledge of the discussion.

BYD had understood its investment proposal would be politically charged because of the scrutiny of Chinese investment in India and had attempted to head off concerns, the two people with knowledge of its planning said.

For instance, the proposal said voice-activated commands for apps would be available in Indian languages in BYD electric cars built in India and that all data from the vehicles would be housed in India, one of the people said.

BYD had proposed starting production in India by 2025, the people familiar with the plan said.

India began subjecting investment from China to closer scrutiny in 2020 amid a series of border clashes between the two countries.

China’s Great Wall Motor shelved its plans to invest $1 billion after failing to get clearances from the Indian government.

A final decision on whether to approve BYD’s investment proposal would be taken by Indian ministries of trade and heavy industries.

BYD, the world’s largest producer of EVs and plug-in hybrid vehicles, entered the Indian market in 2007 producing batteries and components for mobile phone makers.

In 2013 it started building electric buses in India with Megha Engineering, under a joint venture company called Olectra Greentech.

BYD, which has already invested over $200 million (roughly Rs. 1,645 crore) in India, markets the Atto 3 electric SUV and the e6 EV to corporate fleets and plans to launch sales of its Seal electric sedan later this year.

BYD has sold about 1,950 cars in India since starting sales in 2022, according to government registration data.

India’s EV market is small but growing with domestic automaker Tata Motors dominating sales. Electric models made up less than 2 percent of total car sales in 2022 but the government wants to grow this to 30 percent by 2030.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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Elon Musk Distracted by Twitter, Should Focus on Tesla as EV Rivals Pick Up Pace, Investors Say in Survey

Right on cue, Tesla skeptics are pushing back after this year’s sizzling $500 billion (roughly Rs. 41,05,550 crore) rally.

Rival automakers pouncing on booming demand for electric vehicles pose the biggest challenge for Tesla over the next two years just as Elon Musk appears distracted thanks to his high-profile ventures, from social media and space travel to artificial intelligence.

So say respondents to the latest Markets Live Pulse survey. Out of 630 global MLIV Pulse contributors, 54 percent flagged the heightened risk of industry competition while 26 percent picked the behaviour and decisions of its mercurial chief as a key concern for Tesla shareholders.

“Musk is just such an unpredictable person, that I would count it among one of the top risks for Tesla,” Matthew Tuttle, chief executive officer of Tuttle Capital Management, said in an interview.

As profit margins thin, some 67 percent of survey participants said the billionaire executive should focus more on the carmaker. Their warning comes in the wake of a seemingly improbable 128 percent Tesla rally this year, fuelled by renewed investor appetite for the tech megacaps and Musk’s prediction that the era of fully autonomous vehicles is nigh.

Even though Tesla currently enjoys sizable lead over other companies, be it an established carmaker or a startup, a big part of its remarkably high market valuation rests on the assumption that it will be able to maintain this dominance in a future where EVs are more commonplace.

Yet Tesla rivals are picking up the pace. Just earlier this month, China’s BYD set a sales record for the second quarter, and delivered 352,163 fully electric vehicles. That shows how rapidly it has gained ground on Tesla, which handed over 466,140 EVs to customers worldwide — also an all-time high.

The counterargument goes that a slew of Tesla’s rivals are still struggling with teething issues. For instance, Ford Motor’s US electric vehicle sales fell in the second quarter, after it had to pause production early this year at the Mexican factory that builds the Mustang Mach-E.

Despite that, analysts and investors warn that Tesla’s current advantage can erode quickly as government policies like the US’s Inflation Reduction Act encourage other automakers to embrace EVs. With competitors stepping up their game, Tesla’s famously expensive shares — trading at 75 times forward earnings — leave little room for error. In comparison, GM trades at about 6 times of estimated profits and Ford at about 9 times.

“Competition is the most important risk factor for Tesla longer term, and even mediocre execution for the crop of around 100 new EVs coming to market this year will put pressure on Tesla,” said Craig Irwin, analyst at Roth Capital Partners. “The current lead over competition is very real, but we need to understand how this shrinks.”

Defending the market share comes with a cost. Around 63 percent of the MLIV Pulse respondents expect the company to continue to lower prices in order to capture higher volumes. As a result, its hefty profit margin is already taking a hit. More cuts will likely leave the margins even thinner, and narrow the gap with other auto companies.

The impact of all the recent price cuts on Tesla’s profits will be clear this Wednesday when the company reports second-quarter results. The average profit estimate for the quarter has come down 29 percent from where they were six months ago.

“Winning stocks grow revenue and margins. Both are necessary,” said Nicholas Colas of DataTrek Research.

Meanwhile the “Musk-risk” embedded in Tesla shares came into a sharp focus last year when the billionaire engaged in a highly public bid for social-media platform Twitter, and sold off big chunks of Tesla stock to pay for the acquisition. The pressure from the sales and worries that Musk had become too distracted to run Tesla weighed heavily on the shares at that time.

Since then, Twitter’s own value has dwindled as well. About 67 percent of the survey respondents said they don’t expect Twitter will ever be worth as much as Musk paid for it.

© 2023 Bloomberg LP

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Ola Advances Plan for IPO as EV Scooters Take Off in India, Plans to Unveil Electric Car in 2024

Ola Electric Mobility is in line for an initial public offering sooner than its founder previously imagined, reflecting the Indian startup’s whirlwind pace of growth since it started selling electric scooters in late 2021.

“I thought it would take me four to six years of revenue to go public,” Founder and Chief Executive Officer Bhavish Aggarwal said in an interview while sipping iced Vietnamese coffee in New Delhi’s bustling Connaught Place. “Now I can feel that it will be much earlier. Ola Electric has grown and matured faster than I had initially planned because the market response has been very strong.”

The company, whose backers include SoftBank Group and Tiger Global Management, has become leader in India’s electric-scooter market with a 38 percent share. It has sold more than 239,000 electric scooters since December 2021, according to data from the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles.

While demand initially came from first-time scooter buyers, most of Ola Electric’s customers now are already fully-fledged converts, said 37-year-old Aggarwal, dressed in a black Nehru jacket, popularized by India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and later, The Beatles.

Branching out

Aggarwal has ambitions to expand, with plans to unveil a motorbike by the end of this year and a battery-powered car in 2024, though the timelines may change. He also continues to consider exporting scooters to Southeast Asia, Latin America and Europe, a proposition that got waylaid because demand at home was so strong, according to Aggarwal, whose first startup, ANI Technologies, runs Ola ride-hailing operations.

Ola Cabs got as far as selecting banks for a $1 billion (roughly Rs. 8,217 crore) IPO in Mumbai, Bloomberg News reported in August 2021, but that never materialized. The company, which competes against Uber Technologies Inc., is a “profitable business for us now,” Aggarwal said in last week’s interview in Delhi. He didn’t comment on any renewed attempts to list, nor did he mention a date for a possible Ola Electric IPO.

Aggarwal is building a 115-acre battery factory in southern India, pitting him against billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, with the aim of making lithium-ion cells primarily for Ola Electric vehicles, as well as potentially offering energy storage and home energy solutions.

Manufacturing EV components in-house will help Ola Electric sell cars on a bigger scale and increase margins, said Aggarwal, who graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai. Designing vehicles from scratch will give the company more control of quality and costs in a market where most EVs are converted from gasoline models, he said.

Achieving success in electric cars won’t be easy. Combustion-engine vehicles remain the favored mode of personal transport in India and dominate the country’s roads. EVs have been held back by the country’s lack of charging facilities and their high price tags. Nationwide sales reached 49,800 last year, just 1.3 percent of the 3.8 million passenger vehicles sold, according to BloombergNEF.

Bengaluru-based Ola Electric is up against more experienced manufacturers such as market leader Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and even Elon Musk’s Tesla, which is considering investing in India.

Bumps in road

Ola Electric’s scooter business has also been affected by delivery delays due to chip shortages, and issues with quality and fire. Sales slid 39 percent in June from previous month to 17,590 units, a trend that affected other automakers too after the government trimmed subsidies that were offered under its Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid and) Electric Vehicles program.

Still, better technology has shortened timelines for getting a product to market, according to Aggarwal. Ola Electric uses digital simulation and artificial intelligence in manufacturing to save time. “I’m building a technology-focused group of companies,” he said. “Another big technology theme of our generation will be computing and AI. So we’ll do something.”

Being a so-called flat organization also speeds up the production process, said Aggarwal, who is involved in daily decision-making at his business, which employs about 7,000 people.

“What would take a month in a company, we get it done in a day,” he said. “Our philosophy on execution is that we want to do things as best as possible without any compromises on quality or safety. And do it at the lowest cost possible and the fastest speed possible.

Aggarwal believes his strategy to take control of various stages of the EV supply chain will reduce costs and improve product performance and design.

“Tesla is for the West, Ola is for the rest,” he said.

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EV Maker BYD Said to Be Planning to Invest $1 Billion in India for Electric Cars, Batteries

China’s BYD has submitted a $1 billion (nearly Rs. 8,200 crore) investment proposal to build electric cars and batteries in India in partnership with a local company, three people with direct knowledge of the plan told Reuters.

BYD and privately held Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructures have submitted a proposal to Indian regulators to form an EV joint venture, the people said, asking not to be named because the application is private.

The longer-term plan is to build a full line-up of BYD-brand electric cars in India from hatchbacks to luxury models, one of the three people said. 

BYD, the world’s largest producer of EVs and plug-in hybrid vehicles, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company previously said it planned to set up manufacturing in India, now the world’s third-largest car market.

India’s commerce and heavy industries ministries did not immediately reply to a request for comment. 

BYD’s push into India is part of its rapid global expansion to challenge Tesla, which still leads in sales of EVs alone. If the India investment is approved, it would give BYD a presence in all major global car markets with the exception of the United States. 

Tesla has recently restarted talks with India’s government after putting on hold plans to enter the market last year when it failed to secure lower tax duties on imported vehicles in talks with officials. 

BYD has already invested $200 million (nearly Rs. 1,650 crore) in India where it sells the Atto 3 electric SUV and the e6 EV to corporate fleets, and plans to launch its Seal luxury electric sedan this year. 

The total production capacity proposed by BYD was not immediately clear.

The maker of Blade batteries as well as finished EVs has plans to scale up to production of 1,00,000 EVs annually in India over a few years but would likely begin by shipping vehicles in parts for assembly in the country as it works to build up a supply chain, one of the sources said.

The investment proposal also includes a plan by BYD and Megha Engineering to set up charging stations in India and build research and development and training centres, the sources said.

The joint proposal comes amid stricter investment rules. Since 2020, India has tightened scrutiny of investments from neighbouring countries, including China.

Those controls forced China’s Great Wall Motor to shelve a plan to invest $1 billion in the Indian market and pushed Chinese state-owned automaker SAIC’s MG Motor unit to look for a local partner.

Shenzhen-based BYD entered the Indian market in 2007 producing batteries and components for mobile phone makers.

In 2013 it started building electric buses with Megha Engineering, under a joint venture company called Olectra Greentech.

BYD, which stands for Build Your Dreams, sold a total of 1.86 million BEVs and plug-in hybrids in 2022. In India, EVs made up just over 1 percent of total car sales of 3.8 million in 2022 but the government wants to grow this to 30 percent by 2030. 

In India, BYD will compete with domestic automaker Tata Motors and Chinese rival MG Motor that currently dominate electric car sales.

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Tesla’s Plug Made Compulsory in Kentucky for EV Charging Companies

Kentucky is requiring that electric vehicle charging companies include Tesla‘s plug if they want to be part of a state program to electrify highways using federal dollars, according to documents reviewed by Reuters. 

Kentucky’s plan went into effect on Friday, making it the first state to mandate Tesla’s charging technology, although Texas and Washington states previously shared such plans with Reuters. 

In addition to federal requirements for the rival Combined Charging System (CCS), Kentucky mandates Tesla’s plug, called the North American Charging Standard (NACS), at charging stations, according to Kentucky’s request for proposal (RFP) for the state’s EV charging program on Friday. 

“Each port must be equipped with an SAE CCS 1 connector. Each port shall also be capable of connecting to and charging vehicles equipped with charging ports compliant with the North American Charging Standard (NACS),” the documents say. 

Tesla, the dominant EV maker in the United States, has scored a string of victories for its charging technology in recent weeks, starting with Ford Motor, saying it would adopt NACS. 

But a group of EV charger makers and operators is pushing back against Texas’ plan to mandate the inclusion of Tesla technology in charging stations, saying it is “premature,” according to a document seen by Reuters.

“Time is needed to properly standardize, test, and certify the safety and interoperability of Tesla connectors across the industry,” they said in a letter to the Texas Transportation Commission. 

The US Department of Transportation earlier this year said that charging companies must provide CCS plugs to be eligible for federal funding to deploy 5,00,000 EV chargers by 2030. 

It added that the rule allows charging stations to have other connectors, as long as they support CCS, a national standard. 

The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program (NEVI) provides $5 billion (nearly Rs. 40,970 crore) to states. 

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EV Charger Makers Oppose Texas’ Plan to Mandate Tesla Charging System

A group of EV charger makers and operators is pushing back against Texas’ plan to mandate the inclusion of Tesla technology in charging stations, saying it is “premature,” according to a document seen by Reuters and a source aware of the matter.

Reuters reported last week that Texas would require charging companies to include both Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) as well as the nationally recognized rival Combined Charging Standard (CCS) technology to be eligible for a state program to electrify highways using federal dollars.

Washington followed suit, and standards organization SAE International has said it aims to make an industry standard configuration of Tesla’s charging connector in six months or less, adding momentum to Tesla CEO Elon Musk‘s hope of making NACS the national charging technology.

But five electric vehicle charging companies, including operator ChargePoint Holdings and manufacturer ABB, and a clean energy association have written to the Texas Transportation Commission, calling for more time to re-engineer and test Tesla’s connectors.

Texas’ plan “risks the successful deployment” of the first phase of federal funds being rolled out, they said in the letter sent to the chairman of the commission on Thursday, which was seen by Reuters.

“Time is needed to properly standardize, test, and certify the safety and interoperability of Tesla connectors across the industry,” they said.

The source directly aware of the matter told Reuters that some of these organizations are planning to reach out to the federal government with the issue soon.

The Texas Department of Transportation, ChargePoint, ABB and other signatories FreeWire, EVBox and FLO did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

Another signatory, Americans for Affordable Clean Energy, an association of truck stops and convenience stores, could not be reached immediately.

Tesla, the dominant EV maker in the United States, has scored a string of victories for its charging technology in recent weeks, starting with Ford Motor saying it would adopt NACS. General Motors, Rivian Automotive and a raft of auto and charging companies did the same, on concerns of losing out on customers if they offer only CCS.

Tesla’s Superchargers account for about 60 percent of the total number of fast chargers in the United States, according to the US Department of Energy, and the deals will allow non-Tesla users to use the company’s large charging network.

But concerns remain about how smoothly the two charging standards would talk to each other and whether having both standards in the market would raise costs for vendors and customers.

Charging companies have to re-work several aspects of NACS connectors, including extending the cable length and ensuring adequate temperature ranges, as well as get certifications for specific parts, the companies said in the letter.

The companies also highlighted the need for a strong supply chain of NACS cables and connectors that comply with the requirements.

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