TVS Motors’ Plans for E-Mobility – EV Next
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Introduction
The third largest manufacturer of two wheelers in India is taking a slow and steady entrance into the electric vehicle segment. The company has invested in an electric mobility startup which manufactures high performance e-bikes targeted at the european market. TVS made its maiden entry into the EV segment with the launch of its premium scooter i-Qube.
Company Profile
TVS Group spans across industries like Automobile, Aviation, Education, Electronics, Energy, Finance, Housing, Insurance, Investment, Logistics, Service and Textiles. It has over 90 companies under the umbrella.
TVS Motor Company Ltd, a member of the TVS Group (Revenue around INR. 40,000 Cr in 2015-16), is the largest company of the group in terms of size and turnover.
The company has four manufacturing plants, three located in India (Hosur in Tamil Nadu, Mysore in Karnataka and Nalagarh in Himachal Pradesh) and one in Indonesia at Karawang.
Product Profile
- TVS Motor had launched an all-electric version of its popular scooterette, the Scooty a decade ago, called the TVS Scooty Teenz Electric. However, the electric scooter space was in a very nascent stage back then and technology wasn’t really viable, leading to the Scooty Teenz Electric being taken off the market.
- At the Auto Expo 2018, the company showcased it’s concept electric scooter named Creon which is not commercially manufactured.
- TVS Motor has launched what is the country’s first ethanol-powered motorcycle, a ‘green’ version of its popular Apache RTR 200 4V in July 2019
- The company launched their first mainstream electric vehicle i-Qube in January, 2020 for sales only in Bangalore.
TVS Creon
Future Plans
- Joint managing director Sudarshan Venu in an interview in January 2020 said that there will be a phased expansion, with the company having a portfolio of products in the electric segment in the coming years.
- The company plans to invest Rs 650 crore as capital expenditure in FY20. Presently, the outlay for our electric vehicle programmes is about ₹200 crore.
- The company looks at a 10-year perspective and gaining 10 years of experience in building, servicing and supporting connected vehicles.
- Regarding the i-Qube, for the next few months, the focus will be on Bengaluru aiming to sell about 1,000 units a month in the city. They plan to cover three-four other cities in 2020. They would also have a subscription model — the details of which will be out shortly.
- Automotive electricals manufacturer Lucas TVS will launch traction motors designed for electric vehicles by 2021. The TVS Group company believes it is a key de-risking strategy to align with the global transition towards electric vehicles.The traction motors will find purchase in the growing electric rickshaws and electric three wheeler segments.
- TVS and German giant BMW have so far launched one product each under their respective brands (BMW had spun off one additional variant) since the two companies announced their non-equity partnership in 2013.
Partnerships
- In Mar 2018, the company partnered with Intel to develop a host of smart connected features for its two-wheelers.
- In Dec 2017, TVS picked up a 14.78 percent stake in Ultraviolette Automotive, a Bengaluru-based electric two-wheeler and energy infrastructure start-up
R&D
- The entire technology, development, BMS (battery management system), motor for iQube has been done indigenously by the TVS R&D team. Of course, there are some components that are imported. From design to the market launch of iQube, it has been done entirely by us.
Other Strategic Partnerships
- Venu Srinivasan in January 2020 said that the unrealistic deadline for mass adoption of electric two and three-wheelers may create consumer discontent and risk derailing auto-manufacturing in India.
- A senior executive from the company says “We think electric vehicles are important for the future. Young people are more willing than ever to consider buying an electric scooter if it comes with digital features. So iQube will target all those millennials, who are agile”.
- The company believes that in five-seven years from 2020, non-lithium batteries are coming in for sure and even lithium may come down in price. Battery prices may drop 50% to 75% over 10 years, at which point it makes imminent sense to have electric vehicles.
Read EV Next posts on the India electric vehicle strategy for these companies: ABB | ACME | Altigreen Propulsion | Amara Raja | Ashok Leyland | Ather Energy | Audi | Bajaj | BASF | Bharat Forge | Black & Veatch | BMW | Bosch | Continental AG | Denso | Exide | Exicom | Ford | Fortum | General Motors | Great Wall Motors| Greaves | Hella | Hero Electric | Honda | Hyundai | JBM | Kia | Kinetic Green | LG | Mahindra Electric | MG Motors | Nissan | Ola | Olectra | Panasonic | Piaggio | Porsche | Renault | Samsung SDI | Schneider Electric | Sun Mobility | Tata Autocomp | Tata Motors | Tata Power | Toyota | Uber | UL | Volvo |
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