InnerCircle: 'Consumers are willing to wait for innovative EV products; tech suppliers must lower entry barriers', says Nilesh Bajaj, CEO at Vayve Mobility

Pune-based e-mobility startup Vayve Mobility is registering strong demand for its maiden two-seater electric car called Vayve Eva. One of the USPs of this car is that it can also run on solar power.

The company says its waitlist clearly determines the potential demand for such an offering and breaks the stigma that only conventional, five-seater family cars, can do well in India.

“There is a fundamental shift underway in an industry which is more than a century old. While several new players are coming in, we are also likely to see new forms of mobility emerge. We do not see this shift as merely that of the powertrain, but also of the form factors,” said Nilesh Bajaj, CEO, Vayve Mobility.

No harm in learning from the best

Bajaj explained that some of these unconventional vehicle form factors were not viable earlier because of packaging issues or other constraints. “We believe small electric cars are the way cities will have a more sustainable future.

"As a company, Vayve Mobility is right-sizing personal mobility, and our focus is on building purpose-built electric vehicles, and break the stigma that a car smaller than a five-seater family car will not sell in India. Our wait list tells something completely different, and hints at the demand potential in India for two-seater vehicles, given that they have all the modern features and creature comforts,” he said.

“While everyone talks about not taking things from China, we took two things — inspiration about how products are built, and studied their adoption curve over time. We are of the firm belief that more than western countries, India is likely to follow China’s trajectory when it comes to EV penetration in the market,” he pointed out.

Bajaj also touched upon the developmental constraints faced by early-stage startups, and said that so far, automotive design tools have been developed primarily to cater to the needs of legacy players, however, new-age companies are not following similar workflows.

“Therefore, technology suppliers must find ways to make their entry barriers lower, and generate revenues later in the journey, as the startup starts to make money, thereby looking at a more collaborative way of revenue sharing,” he suggested.

Create interoperable systems

Bajaj stressed on the need for the interoperability of tools, wherein various file formats could talk to one another.

“Legacy players have been operating in silos, but today companies are working with multiple vendors on multiple projects, and therefore, the interfaces between software tools, and file formats, which continue to be broken and do not communicate with each other, must change.

“We must find ways to create interfaces that allow multiple tools to collaborate and share data easily. We are in a place where cloud computation and storage are no longer problems, it is more about the push which leads to various ecosystem players to come together, and use data collaboratively,” he pointed out.

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