E-Scooter Maker iVOOMi Plans To Invest INR 200 Crore In R&D

iVOOMi is planning to expand by investing INR 200 crore towards Research and Development (R&D) and setting up a brand new manufacturing facility in Pune. The electric scooter manufacturing company said that it was working towards creating a second and third level vendor ecosystem to support the Make in India programme and to have better control on the products.

The company has started with research on the market and global technologies available towards delivering reliable and safe mobility for the world. Continuous research and development for over three years has enabled it to create back-end technology components that empower the company to make value-added offerings for our consumers.

Speaking with Opportunity India, Sunil Bansal, MD and Co-Founder, iVOOMi said, “We are already working towards better vehicle safety, including the battery. We are also developing capabilities in India towards a higher level of localisation. Hence, we are working towards creating a second and third level vendor ecosystem to support the Make in India programme and to have better control on products. Both of these developments are at an advanced stage and are at the production release stage in a phased manner.”

Further he said that research on alternate chemistry has been started towards building better batteries. Two more vehicles are at the design stage, and Battery 3.0 (Version 3) is also at the development stage, which will truly revolutionise the EV market. These products will be truly the first of their kind and enable a completely swappable Backend-as-a-Service (BaaS) model for iVOOMi Energy.

He said that iVOOMi is committed to constantly empowering the green movement in India. In addition to achieving the zero carbon emissions target, electric vehicles also play a major role in helping to reduce both air and noise pollution. iVOOMi is passionately committed to building a greener and cleaner environment for our future generations. We often take part in plantation drives which are led by the promoters at iVOOMi Energy.

“Although there are many questions about how the batteries are powered, we believe it is a significant initiative, and while the mobility is being powered by green mobility, we are confident that the government's push towards green power will add green power for our batteries, which will then be truly green,” he said.

Speaking about increasing mileage of the vehicle, Sunil said that the company will be releasing a first level solution soon which will change the mileage towards 180 to 200 km on the product ranges. After which the battery 3.0, under development, will revolutionise the same with further ease.

“The growth will come from the change in the form factors of the cells powering our batteries, then with the electro-chemistry. Hence, we can confirm that the next two years will be a continuous growth in technology and solutions towards improved range and better performance,” he added.

This Pune-based company—having operations in two states have sold a total of 6,000 scooters in the previous financial year, with fully developed products and a wider audience, It hopes to continue growing year after year over the course of the next three years. “We view this as a long-term investment, and given how quickly technology is evolving and expanding, we have deliberately chosen to maintain strict control over volume and planned expansion. This will undoubtedly help us grow steadily over time,” the Co-Founder told Opportunity India.

He mentioned that there were challenges at the national and global level. However, in the last three years, the challenges have been resolved, we see that as the industry is growing rapidly, and the market is evolving at a significant pace with a matured approach. Long research cycles for cells and batteries, vivid use and abuse patterns, charging or swapping, and thus acceptance for different markets and consumer needs — these are the larger challenges at the global and industry forum at the same time. Localisation requirements include a lack of a ready supporting ecosystem for most critical components locally, maturing thus changing policies, a unique combination of weather, abuse or use, and road infrastructure at the Indian level.