Kinetic Green, an electric two-wheeler and three-wheeler manufacturer, has entered the high-speed scooter market with Zing HSS, its first product at Rs 85,000 (after FAME II subsidies). After the Zing and Zoom electric scooters, which were launched last year, this will be Kinetic Green’s third e-scooter offering.
The EV maker can be found in the L3 and the L5 categories of electric three-wheelers and serves last-mile mobility.
Sulajja Firodia Motwani, Founder & CEO, of Kinetic Green, said, “We did not enter the two-wheeler space in the beginning due to our non-compete clause with Mahindra two-wheelers that was there till 2019.”
“The three-wheeler space was the low-hanging fruit from the customer acceptance point of view. We started our two-wheeler journey in 2020 and first entered the low-speed category due to its acceptance. We wanted to understand the segment better, build our base in terms of distribution, manufacturing, product development, and this was all happening during the Covid disruption,” added Motwani.
She said that the company has gained valuable market and consumer insights, and is now ready to expand its product range. We have a strong presence and have sold nearly 40,000 low-speed e-scooters. We are profitable in this segment and don’t burn cash.”
Important to note that the segment of electric two-wheelers nearly doubled in CY2021, despite having a low base. From 1,00,736 units in 2020, the sales of high-speed electric scooters increased to 2,33,971 in 2021. The state and central government subsidies allowed for new entrants as well as a wider range of products available to consumers.
“We have also established a network of more than 300 exclusive dealers for our electric two-wheelers. We have built a large R&D setup and own manufacturing capabilities over the last 12 months,” shared Motwani.
It is interesting that while the company has a manufacturing plant in Ahmednagar capable of producing up to 7,500 two-wheelers per month, it is constructing a new plant in Supa near Pune. This plant will be capable of producing more than 25,000 two-wheelers per month.
Kinetic Green made an initial investment in its two-wheeler company of Rs 50 crore and plans to increase that amount over the next four years.
Motwani explained that the Zing HSS was the first product in India’s electric two-wheeler market. The company plans to launch five additional products in the high-speed segment.
“We have developed and will launch the Kinetic Flex next month which comes with 70kmph top speed and is a FAME II approved model. The e-Luna in the high-speed category is built completely ground up with 100% local supply chain components and will come in multiple formats, battery sizes and even performance,” she added.
Other models are being developed in collaboration with the AIMA Technology Group. AIMA Technology Group is the largest manufacturer of electric two-wheelers worldwide.
Kinetic is determined to attract maximum attention. It does not intend to enter the electric scooter segment nor make a scooter costing more than Rs 1.5 lakh. This would be a distraction from its goal of making last-mile mobility affordable and sustainable. Kinetic plans to increase its reach beyond the 300 existing dealers to 600 by FY2023, and to 1,000 by FY2024.
Motwani explained that Kinetic Green has strong partnerships and plans to expand its partnerships. We have Lamborghini in the Golf karts and AIMA in electric-two-wheeler, and we’re strong in the e-3-wheeler market.
“On the technology platform, not just connected vehicle applications, but for IoT, remote diagnostics, vehicle health, EV ecosystem like charging infra, battery swapping, that is something we are working on the strategic front. The tech platform will become a backbone for all the products, that is something that we are doing on the inorganic front,” she added.