If there is a company which has welcomed the rise in the prices of conventional fuels like petrol and diesel, it is the Ahmedabad-based Electrotherm (India) which manufactures battery-operated electric scooters. The company, which has a manufacturing capacity of up to 800 units a day, is all set to ride the EV growth curve that should come about as a result of the recently announced National Electric Mobility Mission Plan 2020 (NEMMP).
The Mission aims to considerably reduce India’s dependence on fossil fuels and envisages an expenditure of Rs 23,000 crore to promote electric and hybrid vehicles over the next eight years. Of this amount, the government plans to pump in around Rs 14,000 crore, with the balance to be invested by the auto industry in R&D and infrastructure activities. The government is currently fine-tuning the special incentives for the EV initiative with government funds to be released from April 2013 onwards.
Given this situation, Electrotherm (India), with its electric two-wheeler brand Yobykes, is optimistic on its growth potential and is gearing up to acquire a major market share in the battery-driven two-wheeler segment.
Talking to Autocar Professional, Mukesh Bhandari, chairman and chief technology officer of Electrotherm, says: “The rising concern for global warming and alarming fuel prices have increased the need for an alternative technology, which can provide us an economical, eco-friendly and easy mode of personal commutation.”
Among the various alternative technologies available globally, electric vehicles (EVs) have emerged as the most practical, promising and commercially viable option, he says.
“There was a time when everyone questioned the viability of electric vehicle technology in India. Many even declared it a failure. It is only through the passion and drive of a few players like Yobykes that EV technology has survived and is seeing the light of the day,” he elaborates.
Bhandari is also one among 25 members in the Union government-constituted National Board for Electric Mobility (NBEM), which has helped implement the NEMMP. He says the spiralling price of petrol, whose price has been revised around 12 times in the past year, has been a key protagonist for for the growing demand for battery-driven two-wheelers in the country.
Justifying his view, Bhandari claims Yobykes scooters consume only 1 to 2.25 unit of electricity for a full charge; once charged, Yobykes can run for 70-100km, depending upon the model. For instance, a single unit of power in Gujarat costs Rs 5, for which a Yobyke runs for about 70-75km. Convert the equation into simple math and he says the cost to ride a 100cc/125cc petrol two-wheeler for 20,000km works out to around Rs 78,000. The similar distance covered on a Yobyke costs Rs 55,400. Hence the customer can save around Rs 22,500 while also being more eco-friendly.
On the carbon emission front, electric scooters have a very small carbon footprint. Around 800 grams of CO2 are emitted to produce one unit of electricity which is required to run an electric scooter for 75km per charge. In comparison, a petrol-engined two-wheeler emits 3,375 grams of CO2 while burning 1.5 litres of fuel on a 75km ride.
First among equals
Electrotherm is well placed to ride the boom in electric two-wheelers, as and when it arrives. Bhandari says the company was the first in India to launch electric two-wheelers in an organised manner in 2006.
“Our experience of more than 25 years in power electronics has enabled us to design and develop the high-speed drivetrain required for the Indian market. “So far, we sold have sold around 100,000 electric two-wheelers in India, with Yobykes being the first and only electric scooter brand to cross a customer base of one lakh satisfied users,” he claims while expressing his confidence of touching the 200,000 vehicle mark in the next three years.
Currently, Yobykes has three models in the ‘No License category’ and two in the high-speed segment. No License category vehicles like YoElectron, YoStyle and YoXplor come fitted with a 250 watt motor, a maximum speed of 25kph and 75kg payload capacity. These models can cover 70-100km per charge and can be fully charged in 6-8 hours. The two high-speed scooters – YoExl and YoSpark – which get 1800 W and 900 W motors respectively, can reach a max speed of 55kph and 70-75km on a single charge. They have a payload capacity of 130kg. All these electric scooters are priced between Rs 33,600 to Rs 48,900. The company, reveals Bhandari, is in the process of developing two more high-speed models that will hit Indian roads soon.
The local content in Yobykes stands at 60 percent, with the key imported components being the battery and controller. To bring down product cost and increase indigenisation levels, the company started manufacturing the motor, charger, chassis and plastic items. The company says if any domestic battery manufacturer can supply batteries matching Yobykes’ standard, then the local content in the scooters could go beyond 90 percent.
The company’s manufacturing plant in Kutch in Gujarat has an installed capacity of 288,000 electric scooters per annum. With the NEMMP set to drive demand for EVs, the company is confident of utilising its full production capacity in the next three to five years.
The current Indian electric two-wheeler market stands at around 100,000 vehicles per annum. The market has seen many ups and downs in the past five years. The year 2011, Bhandari says, was the best year when the market grew by more than 50 percent.
The government, as per the NEMMP, is projecting 75 percent growth for the EV industry for the next eight years. As a company, Yobykes too is targeting similar growth. “In the next three years, we are confident that around 200,000 Yobykes will be plying on Indian roads,” he points out.
He says that Yobykes will continue to be the largest battery driven two-wheeler brand in India and the company has targeted a market share of 25-30 percent in the Indian electric two-wheeler segment.
The company witnessed bumper sales in the launch year itself when it sold around 25,000 units in 2006-07. Since then, it has been selling around 15,000-17,000 units every year amid growing competition from other battery-driven two-wheeler manufacturers in the country.
Yobykes sells its EVs in 18 states. While 60 percent of the sales come from the ‘No license category’, the balance is made up the YoExl and YoSpark high-speed scooters. Bhandari says, “We expect the high-speed category to grow at a faster rate in the next 5-7 years. It will be the largest category in coming years.”
Bhandari claims that Yobykes was the first to offer high-powered electric scooters. Further, he points out that the company was also the first to introduce a customer-centric policy covering a three-year warranty on the motor and controller, and 15 months on the charger and one year on the battery.
Yobykes also has a 24x7 on road-assistance programme in place for its customers across India. It has a tie-up with a Spanish MNC called ‘Indian Assistance’. Under this programme, a Yobykes customer can get on-road assistance by dialling a toll-free number. The company offers this service free of cost in the first year of purchase. Currently, this facility is available in 70 cities and it is being extended to other regions too, where the company has its presence, in a phased manner.
The company has around 250 dealerships and service centres in 190 cities across 18 major states in the country. Bhandari says the on-road assistance facility will be available in all these cities soon. Meanwhile, he adds, the company aims to increase its number of dealerships to between 500-750 outlets over the next three years.
Empowering EVs
In addition to the EV division, Electrotherm has three other business divisions – Engineering & Products, Steel & Pipes and Renewables. As of now, the business contribution by the EV division to the parent company is very minimal. But in the near future, the company expects to generate sizeable revenue from Yobykes.
Electrotherm registered a turnover of Rs 2,270 crore in 2011-12, of which only around Rs 58.3 crore came from Yobykes. Looking forward, the EV division is expected to play a major role in the company’s overall turnover, says Bhandari.
“Over the last six years, utilising our expertise in the field of power electronics, Yobykes has made systematic investment on developing in-house R&D and the manufacturing facility for vehicle and components like motor and chargers,” he adds.
Interestingly, while the company’s focus at present is on electric two-wheelers, it is exploring diversification into electric three- and four-wheelers and R&D activity in this direction is being carried out, he reveals.
According to Avinash Bhandari, joint managing director of Electrotherm, the company has so far invested more than Rs 200 crore in its EV division and will make adequate investments in the future too whenever required.
He, however, hastens to add that there are some bottlenecks for the battery-driven two-wheeler industry to grow in India. The primary requirement is the need to improve the electric-charging infrastructure and public charging points should be available for facilitating convenient charging, as in many developed countries. All these issues will be addressed if the government implements the NEMMP at the earliest, he says.
According to the NEMMP, it is estimated that the potential demand for the full range of EVs in India (mild hybrids to full electric vehicles) will be in the range of 5-7 million units in new vehicle sales by 2020. This will include 3-5.5 million units of pure electric two-wheelers, which translates into good news for Yobykes and other manufacturers.
JAISHANKAR JAYARAMIAH