TVS Motor Company is in the process of developing electric two wheelers with plans to roll them out soon in the domestic market, a senior company executive has said. The Chennai-based company, with its prior experience in electric mobility, is developing models which it thinks would fulfil requirements of modern day customer. So far, the company has not revealed what products will be rolled out in the electric two-wheeler space, but an electric scooter is expected to be the first product from India's third largest two-wheeler manufacturer.
"We are very keen on that (electric) space and as a major OEM in the two-wheeler space we believe that we will have a strong presence in the electric segment as well," TVS Motor Company Vice President (Marketing) Commuter Motorcycles, Scooters and Corporate Brand Aniruddha Haldar said, during a recent interaction with the media in New Delhi.
The TVS Jupiter Classic Edition is the most recent variant introduced of the bestselling TVS Jupiter brand
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Electric mobility will see rapid growth in the coming years and Haldar said that this segment is going to be significant in future. Without confirming product details, he said that TVS can introduce both - a scooter and a motorcycle. With emerging technologies in the vertical, the company is now able to now build out an offering that would fulfil the actual needs of the customer on the ground, he added.
"We have been working on it for quite some time. In the past we had products (electric...) too. We continue to work on that and as technology has grown, so has our capability," Haldar said.
When asked about the time frame to roll out such products, Halder said: "We will be in the market soon."
Senior TVS officials have already revealed that the first electric two-wheeler will be launched in the first half of 2018. Earlier this month, TVS President and CEO KN Radhakrishnan revealed to CarandBike that the electric scooter project is well on track, and will be launched in the next six to nine months. So far, details are scarce on the kind of battery and motor used for the electric two-wheeler programme undertaken by TVS.
Also Read: TVS Electric Scooter Launch Details Revealed
The Jupiter is TVS Motor Company's bestselling scooter model
The Indian electric two-wheeler market has players like Hero Electric and Lohia which sell battery powered scooters. Established conventional players like Hero MotoCorp, and Bajaj Auto have expressed interest to enter the segment. Despite efforts put in by the industry and government, sales of electric scooter remain abysmally low - 15,000 to 20,000 units per year - against a whopping 1.7 crore petrol two-wheelers annually. High price of lithium powered scooters, even after subsidy, is one of the main reasons for low sales. Currently, 99 per cent of the electric scooters sold are powered by low-speed lead batteries due to low costs.
TVS Motor Co has an overall market share of around 15 per cent in the domestic two-wheeler space, which is led by the likes of Hero MotoCorp and Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI). TVS has moved up the ladder to take second spot in the scooter segment, behind HMSI. In the April-August period in the current fiscal, the company sold a total of 4,48,188 scooters.
