Piaggio opens first Ape' electric experience centre showroom in India

Piaggio Vehicles (PVPL), the subsidiary of the Piaggio Group and a leading manufacturer of small commercial vehicles in India, today launched its new electric three-wheeler, the Ape’ E-City for the Vijayawada market in Andhra Pradesh. The launch also marked the company's first-of-its-kind Ape’ Electric Experience Centre showroom in India. The Ape’ E-City comes at an introductory ex- showroom price of Rs 196,000 (ex-Vijayawada).

The Piaggio Ape’ E-City has advanced lithium-ion batteries, automatic gearbox, higher power and torque, no gear and clutch, doors for safety and a fully-digital cluster. The Ape’ E-City is the first three-wheeler to have smart swappable batteries, in partnership with Sun Mobility, a leader in electric mobility battery technology. Ape' E-City customers can also experience an app-enabled eco-system to check battery charge, recharge and locate battery swap stations among others.

The digital instrument cluster in the Ape' E-City displays information like the state of charge, drive modes, service alerts and economy mode among others. The e-three-wheeler comes with a warranty of 36 months/100,000km (whichever is earlier) along with free scheduled maintenance for 3 years, which is one of the best offering in the segment.

Commenting on the development, Diego Graffi, MD and CEO, Piaggio Vehicles said, “Ape’, a brand with a trust of more than 2.9 million happy customers, is paving the way for the Indian electric revolution with the Ape’ Electrik range and Ape’ E-City as the first offering. At Piaggio, we believe in providing pathbreaking solutions in the last-mile transportation segment with best-in-class technology offerings to our customers. Piaggio Group has a rich heritage of developing electric technology over the last 15 years which we have leveraged to develop these class leading products for India."

"We are developing both swappable and fixed battery technology solutions to serve the varied needs of the customer. For Swappable technology, our partnership with Sun Mobility will enable customers to experience a very innovative, smart and unique swappable smart battery eco-system in India,” said Graffi.

Saju Nair, Head of Commercial Vehicle Business, Piaggio India said, “We are pleased to be launching Ape' E-City for the Vijayawada region. Vijayawada being one of the rapidly growing commercial hubs in Andhra Pradesh, it is a strategic market for Piaggio. Ape’ E-City offers the best value in the class in terms of capacity, pick-up, mileage and maintenance. Considering the Andhra Pradesh government’s focus on promoting sustainable mobility, Ape E-City is the right choice for Vijayawada where three-wheelers are one of the primary mode of last-mile transportation."

"Ape’ E-City offers the best value in the class in terms of capacity, pick-up, mileage and maintenance. To ensure customer convenience, we have already installed two swappable charging stations in Vijayawada and are planning to install three more in the  near future. With this launch we are confident of maintaining and strengthening our presence in Vijayawada,” added Nair.