Increased investments will be catalyst for EV’s growth in India

Anshul Gupta, Director, Okaya Power Private Limited in an interview with EPR Magazine.

What was the thought process behind Okaya EV?

It was a natural shift for us to vertically enter into a solution approach rather than merely build batteries for our customers. Another motivation was seeing the customers’ pain over the last three to four years. With heavy incentives and an open playing field, first-time manufacturers, traders, startups and so many inexperienced entrants are venturing into the ecosystem. Eventually, it is the consumer who bears the brunt of having to deal with cheap imported products, minus any value-added features or services.

What counts in an electric scooter are the battery, electronics, and software. With 31 years of experience as battery manufacturers, combined with 35 years of electronics excellence through our Microtek arm, we decided to enter the EV space and bring about a change. Based on our extensive R&D our research team has chosen a battery technology that gives more life to the batteries and performs well even at 50°C temperature. We are very conscious of adaptability to the Indian conditions, and Okaya EV’s chargers, controllers and BMS can withstand extreme power fluctuations and extreme weather conditions.

As per earlier reports, Okaya had no serious plans to enter cell manufacturing. Are you contemplating a move in that direction now?

There has been some change in strategy. Currently, our investments are more focused on the EV business. Once we can justify our EV volumes through retail and consumer reach, then it is in the natural order of things to enter into cell manufacturing. We did not want to enter into that area till we had an established retail network where the growth comes in every year and providing constant services to our customers. So, if you have a good hold on a product and are selling to the consumer rather than just to the B2B or to the B2G segment, then it makes sense for us, in the long run, to get into cell manufacturing, or at least do something substantial in that segment.

What kind of investment do you intend to put into the e-2W business, and what is the kind of capacity you are planning?

A ballpark figure would be an initial investment to the tune of ₹75-80 crore. That includes the land, building team, products and moulds, design, everything. Since we have to launch products every year, we expect to invest a minimum of ₹10-15 crore a year into the product and R&D.

Parallel to that, on the capacity for this year, we plan to sell around 26,000 vehicles. This is our first three-year target. Then we will increase the shifts, etc., so we can turn it up a notch. But the entire capacity is being planned at around 70,000 to 80,000 vehicles per annum.

What are your plans for the EV business?

Will your products be entirely indigenous? Ours is a third-generation family business and we make in India. Our fully sustainable, current manufacturing hub is in Himachal Pradesh. We are committed to quality and our newly launched e-scooter has been running many test miles on the high mountain roads of the state. To factor in future demand, we will also set up a plant in Haryana in the next six months.

To target Tier-II and Tier-III cities, we addressed both the entry and mid-level segments and launched two variants – the AvionIQ series and the ClassicIQ series. This is a new-age e-scooter with cutting-edge technology that was created at state-of-the-art research centers dedicated exclusively to the development of EVs for India. This comes combined with the trust of Okaya. Additionally, we provide service at your doorstep.

As per our initial planning, we were focused more on the entry and mid-level segments. With the FAME subsidy extension, we increased our focus on our product for the premium segment, which is now scheduled for launch before Diwali. We are also looking forward to launching our high-speed motorcycles in early 2022.