TVS Motor’s new EV vertical, which has 500-600 engineers, is already working on various concepts to meet market needs
Homegrown auto giant TVS Motor Company is reportedly investing Rs 1,000 crore to manufacture electric vehicles under a separate vertical, a senior company official told The Economic Times.
TVS Motors’ Joint Managing Director Sudarshan Venu told the publication that TVS is readying a complete portfolio of two and three-wheelers in the range of 5-25kW, all of which will be in the market within 24 months.
“We’ve quietly worked on EVs for the last ONE decade. It is a huge focus area for us as we advance. We are embracing this future; we are investing in it and are excited. We want to scale up the TVS electric experience pan India, and it is a space where we would like to play a leading role,” Venu said.
The company is looking to mark its presence across electric vehicle segments such as the delivery market, commuter space, premium scooters, high-performance sporty motorcycles and electric three-wheelers. The company’s EV range will be parallel to the current petrol-powered range, the report said.
TVS Motor’s new EV vertical, which has 500-600 engineers, s already working on various concepts to meet market needs. This new range of electric vehicles, designed and developed in India with a global R&D ecosystem, aims to serve the foreign markets too, Venu revealed.
The company has set up a dedicated facility for electric vehicles, which Venu said is scalable.
The company is also developing integrated vehicle architecture with a critical backend manufacturing of battery and other critical parts managed in house.
Venu further revealed that the company is eyeing partnerships to create an ecosystem of fast-charging vehicles. For charging infrastructure, the company is in talks with several private and public discoms to install infrastructure for fast charging.
He added that by 2025, with falling battery cost, sustained policy support, and the investment in product launches, customer acceptance will accelerate. “The bull case of the industry is what we will plan for, and we will invest behind it, and be ready for it” he said.
As a first step, TVS’s first EV offering, iQube, currently sold in Bengaluru, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi and Pune, will be available across 1,000 dealerships in major towns and cities by the end of the FY22. Around the same time, the company will also launch its scooter based on the Creon concept–which TVS claims will be the most advanced electric two wheelers in India.
“We are improving the profitability of our core business and cutting any capex on non-core areas to keep the focus on electrification and digital future,” he said.
