Avore Electric Launches EX, its First Motorcycle

Avore Electric launched its first electric motorcycle, the EX, in Ahmedabad on Tuesday at a starting price of ₹1,24,999 ex-showroom. The bike comes in three variants: the EX 2S, EX 2 and EX 1. Bookings opened the same day at ₹799, while showrooms to follow next month and deliveries to start two months from now.

The EX 2S carries an IDC certified range of 260 km, the EX 2 255 km and the EX 1 160 km. Top speed is 114 km/h on the EX 2S and 100 km/h on the other two variants. A rare-earth-free permanent magnet synchronous motor produces 7.5 kW to 10.5 kW by variant, with 250 Nm of peak wheel torque across all three.

Each variant has a 1500W onboard charger that runs off a standard 5A or 15A household socket. A 20 to 80 percent charge takes about two hours, a full charge about four. The pack is homologated by NATRAX and its management system validated by ICAT, both covered for five years or 60,000 km. Avore has not disclosed a vehicle warranty.

The starting price undercuts Revolt Motors' RV400 BRZ and the top Oben Rorr EZ, both near ₹1,29,950, by about ₹5,000. Priyank Rakholiya, Avore's founder, said the target buyer is switching from a 125cc to 200cc petrol commuter.

On ex-showroom prices the EX sits just above the Bajaj Pulsar N160 and TVS Apache RTR 160 4V, its closest petrol equivalents by price, at ₹1.16 lakh to ₹1.19 lakh. Maharashtra, one of the two launch states, levies 11 per cent road tax on petrol two-wheelers in this engine class and exempts electric ones, worth about ₹13,000 on an N160, which more than closes the gap on the road.

Electric vehicles accounted for 8.1 per cent of the 95.5 lakh two-wheelers registered in India between January and May this year. Industry estimates put scooters and mopeds at close to 89 per cent of those sales.

Avore says it developed nine vehicle systems in-house over three years, among them the battery management system, motor, controller, charger and operating system, and has filed more than 120 intellectual property applications. It buys in cells, none of which are made in India, and contracts motor assembly to an Indian partner. All of it was funded without outside investment.

"Don't take funding at the start, because once you have the funding you are under pressure to go to market quickly," Rakholiya said. "Our product was ready nine months ago. We used those nine months to test it."

The company has finalized 15 dealerships in Gujarat and Maharashtra and is evaluating another 65 enquiries. The southern states and Delhi follow within three months. Every dealership will house a service workshop with technicians Avore has trained itself.

"We trained them in-house, because we developed the system in-house. Outsourced people cannot train them," Rakholiya said.

The Chhatral plant in Gujarat covers 150,000 sq ft with installed capacity for 15,000 electric two-wheelers a month. Rakholiya said volume is not the year-one target and the priority is stabilizing the product and the service network.

The EX is the first vehicle from Samarth E-Mobility. Rakholiya spent the previous 12 years running the family chemicals business, which he calls the world's second largest food colour producer, and built a research team of more than 100 people.

"The chemicals business is about quality and consistency. We work to parts-per-million tolerances," he said. "I am carrying the same mindset over here. If we don't control quality and consistency, there is no point being in the business."