Ultraviolette Forays Into Electric Scooter Market With ‘Tesseract’

High-end ebike maker Ultraviolette Automotive has entered a new segment with the launch of its first electric scooter ‘Tesseract’ as it looks to grab a larger pie of India’s electric two-wheeler market.

In a bid to expand its market footprint, Ultraviolette also unveiled a lightweight electric motorcycle ‘Shockwave’ at its ‘Fast Forward India ‘25’ event in Bengaluru on Wednesday (March 5).

Tesseract will be available at a price of INR 1.2 Lakh for the first 10,000 units, after which it will be sold at INR 1.45 Lakh. Meanwhile, Shockwave will have an introductory price of INR 1.49 Lakh for the first 1,000 bikes. After that, it will be available at INR 1.75 Lakh.

Tesseract comes with a maxi-scooter-like design and sports a 7-inch touchscreen TFT display with navigation & LED lights. It is also equipped with several advanced safety features such as blindspot detection, overtaking assist and real-time collision alerts.

The newly launched escooter is currently available in three variants — Tesseract 3.5 with a 3.5 kWh battery, Tesseract 5 with a 5 kWh battery, and Tesseract 6 with a 6 kWh battery. While the entry-level Tesseract 3.5 can go up to 162 km on a single charge, the top-tier model has a promised range of 261 km.

On the other hand, Shockwave is an adventure electric motorcycle with a 4 kWh battery capacity and a range of 165 km. It can go from zero to 60 kmph in just 2.9 seconds.

While pre-bookings for the escooters are now open, deliveries will start in Q1 FY26.

Founded in 2016 by Narayan Subramaniam and Niraj Rajmohan, Bengaluru-based Ultraviolette currently sells only performance-oriented electric motorcycles. The startup launched its first electric motorcycle F77 in November 2022.

At the launch event of Tesseract, Subramaniam said that the startup is planning to launch a new ebike under its existing F range of performance bikes, two more escooters under its S series, and two more lightweight bikes under the L series. While Tesseract will be a part of the S series, Shockwave has been introduced under the L series.

In a statement, Ultraviolette said it has expanded its presence to over 13 cities and plans to expand to over 50 cities by FY26 with a strategic focus on international markets such as the UK, Germany, Spain, Portugal and France.

In December 2024, Inc42 exclusively reported that Ultraviolette raised INR 130 Cr (about $15.3 Mn) from existing investors, including Zoho, Lingotto (erstwhile Exor Capital), Mudhal Partners and Ojas Consultation. Overall, the EV startup has raised $75 in total funding to date and counts the likes of Qualcomm, TVS Motor, among others, as its investors.

Ultraviolette locks horns with giants like Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola Electric, legacy two-wheeler makers Bajaj Auto and TVS Motors, and other emerging EV startups like Kinetic Green, Oben, among others.

Its EV registrations declined 42% to 45 units in February from 78 units in January.

Ultraviolette saw its net loss balloon over 8X to INR 61.6 Cr in FY24 from INR 7.5 Cr in the previous year, hurt by a sharp rise in expenses. Operating revenue, however, zoomed 74% to INR 15.1 Cr during the year under review from INR 8.7 Cr in FY23.

Ultraviolette’s entry into the electric scooter market comes amid intensifying competition in India’s electric two-wheeler market, with top players like Ola Electric and Bajaj Auto expanding their product portfolio.

Ola Electric made its foray into the electric bike segment last month with the launch of the Roadster X series, while Bajaj rolled out two new electric models of its iconic Chetak scooters in December 2024.

Overall, EV adoption is on the rise in the country, driven by rising awareness about carbon emissions and favourable government policies such as PLI and PM E-DRIVE. More than 2 Mn EVs were sold in the country in 2024 across two-wheeler, three-wheeler and four-wheeler categories.

Currently valued at $54 Bn, India’s thriving EV market is projected to reach a market size of $132 Bn by 2030.