According to a top executive, WardWizard Innovations and Mobility has lined up almost Rs. 650 crore in investment to manufacture Li-ion advance cells and related infrastructure.
Gujarat-based Joy, which sells electric two-wheelers under the Joy brand name, is planning to establish an R&D center and an assembly plant in order to build the 1GWh cell production facility at its electric vehicle cluster in Vadodara.
Sunkonnect, a Singapore-based consulting firm in renewable energy management, has been contacted by the company to conduct a feasibility study and identify potential partners for production processes.
Yatin Gupte, WardWizard Innovations and Mobility’s Managing Director, stated that the company will invest between Rs 600 and 650 crore in infrastructure development over the next 18-months.
“The likely investment for setting up the R&D Lab and the assembly plant would cost between Rs 75-125 crore. Similarly, around Rs 450 crore would be required for acquiring raw materials and machinery,” Gupte noted.
The company intends to raise capital via internal accruals as well as the market. Within six months, the R&D Lab would be established and a small assembly plant would be built to process pouch and cylindrical cells from Korea.
Gupte stated that “after a year, once these pieces have been purchased, we would be starting in the next 18 months our own production unit for advanced cell manufacturing,”
Sunkonnect will assist in the procurement of the machinery and setting up of the laboratory. Gupte stated that 60-70% of cell production would be used by the company for its products, while the remainder would be sold on the open market.
WardWizard currently offers both low-speed and high-speed electric two-wheelers. The company sold approximately 35,000 units last year and plans to ship around 1.5 lakh units in fiscal 2019.
“With the increase in demand for electric two-wheelers, we are looking to sell around 2.5 lakh units next fiscal,” Gupte noted. The company also plans to launch an electric passenger wheeler model by July end. The work is almost complete and it should be on the roads by July-end,” Gupte said.
