Pune-based EV start-ups have raised more than Rs129 crore funding

By Bhalchandra Chorghade, Editor, CNCTimes.com

The viral video of an electric vehicle (EV) catching fire in Pune city has not only alarmed prospective users, but also strong proponents of EVs. Even though these vehicles have been tested by trusted agencies, the basic flaw in the design is that these batteries were never originally designed to suit Indian conditions. Akshay Singhal, a 2019 Forbes Under30 Asia awardee and founder of EV battery technology startup ‘Log 9 Materials’, said, “If we force feed such batteries in our conditions, then obviously we will have safety viability issues.”

Although his start-up is headquartered in Bengaluru, Akshay is visiting Pune on April 5 for the Alternate Fuel Conclave and EV exhibition. He believes that the Maharashtra government has been at the forefront of dealing with climate change. “The state government wants to start deploying interventions from Pune and we are working with the government. We will be involved in various activities and pilots in Pune.”

Akshay is not the only entrepreneur who is looking forward to Pune, a traditional automotive industry hub specially from the research and development perspective. Pune has the potential to emerge as the EV hub of India considering the ?1,000 crore plus investments made and announced so far by major automotive players like Bajaj Auto Limited, Piaggio India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharat Forge and Kinetic Green Energy & Power Solution. Besides these large corporations, five startups from the city have cumulatively raised more than $17mn ( ?129 crore) seed funds venture capitalists and angel investors.

Hirdesh Thakur, executive director, EKA (a subsidiary of Pinnacle Industries Limited) is optimistic about the Pune EV-ecosystem. According to him, Pune is already an EV hub. “Lots of activities around EV ecosystem are happening in Pune region. We have the best testing agency available in the city, our commercial vehicle segment and car OEMs are already here, and we have abundant talent. This coupled with good government initiatives is working in favour of Pune as compared to Bengaluru and Delhi.”

Anurag Garg, managing director, Vitesco Technologies, India said, “Startups would like to utilise the ecosystem developed around existing OEMs. Apart from these traditional automotive hubs, new hubs would emerge due to the EV disruption.”

“Most EV startups are presently dependent on import substitutes for critical components. Hence, we do not have enough supply base for such components which are in immediate requirement. Once the sales volume starts coming in, which is not too far, there would be some supply-side challenges. From pan-India-perspective two-wheeler and three-wheeler EVs will be real trendsetters, followed by LCVs. According to a report, there would be around US $12 billion ( ?1,200 crore plus) investment across the automotive value chain over the next five years. We need to complete the ecosystem for electrification with focus on infrastructure development. We need to pick a small town as a pilot, experiment and learn things. That will help us to implement this ecosystem faster,” he said.

Akshay said, “Pune can become an EV hub. All that government needs to do is have a ‘hands-off approach’. Let the ecosystem bloom and remove the bottlenecks for startups and give them an open hand. You don’t need to create any sort of new things.”

However, even an optimist like Hirdesh realises that there are larger issues and challenges, especially the regulatory compliances, which are proving to be hurdles for startups. “In terms of incubation support, it’s still a long way to go as a country. We also raised this issue with NITI Aayog team. Startups or any company still needs to qualify for more than 50 permissions, federal as well as state. The regulatory environment should become conducive for startups,” he said.

Paradigm shift

Anurag shared his observation that, in the past few years, EV showrooms and charging stations are now more visible across the city. This can be attributed to charging infrastructure startups like goEgoNetwork.

EV infrastructure is being developed right from residential, commercial to highway charging. With this robust infrastructure, EV adoption will also increase, believes Dheeman Kadam, co-founder of goEgoNetwork. He said, “There is lot of demand for charging-as-a-service or shared charging stations in residential societies in cities like Pune, Mumbai, etc. We already have 200 charging points across Pune and have planned for 500 in total. In Mumbai we have around 20 charging points. In India, 2,000 public charging stations are in place. This number is increasing almost 200 per cent month on month. In Maharashtra, because of conducive EV policy, there is lot of scope on highway front and making residential charging a reality,” Dheeman claims.

Speaking about opportunities for EV startups in Pune, Dheeman says, “Pune is already on track to become an EV hub. Most EV startups from Pune are in nascent stage and some have raised seed fund rounds. Lot of interest is also being shown by VCs and a lot needs to be done further.”

Hirdesh said, “As compared to Bengaluru, Pune does not have easy access to capital. Efforts in producing an indigenous product are also very less. Most entrepreneurs are trying to assemble the EVs and lack the inhouse engineering capabilities. However, considering the positive sentiments for EV in future, a lot of funding is expected and coming in.”

Indigenous solutions

A critical and most dirty component in an EV is the battery. Most of the startups and companies must import this component from China-based companies. Akshay, whose startup holds in-house competencies in everything from electrode materials to cell fabrication to battery packs, said, “Dependency on China is a big factor, but we also haven’t developed indigenous technologies. Whatever battery technologies have been developed in the world, they were never done keeping in mind the Indian conditions or kind of vehicles used here. We are late to the party anyways and the least Indian startups can do is strike the partnerships with battery tech companies and simultaneously begin with local development and indigenisation target for the next 5 to 10 years.”

Tork Motors, an electric motorcycle startup, delivered its first motorcycle on Thursday (March 31). Kapil Shelke, co-founder of Tork Motors said, “We also order a few components from China and Taiwan, but rest of tooling and aluminium castings are made in India. From startup founders’ perspective, access to capital is not a problem, especially post-covid it doesn’t matter where one is located.”

Commenting on battery-swapping solutions, Dr Akshay said, “Battery swapping is an interim solution. Three to four years back, if batteries would have charged fast, nobody would have gone for battery swapping. Battery swapping solves only one problem and that is of the charging time. Basic range of the EV is also limited due to swappable batteries. Safety risks remain with battery swapping solutions. Besides, it will put additional batteries in the market, which will cause more harm for the environment.”

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/pune-news/startup-mantra-pune-based-ev-startups-have-raised-more-than-rs129-crore-funding-101648896679373.html

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