Electric Vehicles This Week: Ola Electric To Launch Electric Scooters, Euler Motors Gets $2.66 Mn Funding & More

As the nationwide lockdown enters its final phase, electric vehicle manufacturers believe that consumers may adapt to clean and electric mobility in the future. Many industry experts said that as social distancing prevails, consumers are most likely to opt for private vehicles over shared mobility amidst fear of the pandemic.

Earlier this week, Bengaluru-based electric mobility startup Ola Electric acquired Amsterdam-based EV startup Etergo BV valued at $92 Mn. With this, Ola will now be entering the electric two-wheeler market, globally. The electric mobility startup will leverage Etergo’s design and engineering capabilities to build its smart electric scooters. The company said that it will be launching its electric scooter in India by 2021.

Recently, Ather Energy has partnered with Bounce to start scooter sharing programme which promoted the use of electric vehicles during lockdown. With this, the duo plans to help Covid-19 frontline workers. In addition to this, the companies have also announced a chance for Ather Energy 450 and 450X owners to make money off their vehicles which have been lying idle during lockdown.

Electric mobility startup Euler Motors raised INR 20 Cr ($2.66 Mn) in Series A funding led by Inventus Capital India, Blume Ventures, Singapore-based Jetty Ventures India and Udaan’s cofounder Sujeet Kumar. The company will be using the fund to hire talent, research and development (R&D) and supply chain localisation. Also, it is planning to launch electric rickshaws for commercial logistics by 2020-end.

According to RMI Breakthrough Batteries, electric two and three-wheelers will account for over 80% of passenger vehicles sold by 2030. As per DataLabs by Inc42, electric vehicles are likely to grow at 70% with commercial vehicles dominating the segment in the next ten years.

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Skoda To Mass-Produce EVs Locally In India Soon

Czech automobile manufacturer Skoda recently announced that it is planning to debut a new energy vehicle for the domestic market. Zac Hollis, director of sales, service and marketing at Skoda, expressed his intention to see a mass market EV for India in the long term. The automaker plans to roll out its first products under India 2.0 project as a heavily localised, mid-size SUV based on the Vision IN concept by 2021 while the replacement for Rapid is in the pipeline.

BattRE Electric Mobility Launches Affordable EVs 

Jaipur-based electric two-wheeler manufacturer BattRE Electric Mobility launched an affordable, internet-connected electric scooter called ‘gps:ie.’ The company, in a press release, said that it has partnered with San Jose, California-based technology company Aeris Communications with a country office in Delhi NCR for launching this affordable connected scooter. The electric scooter will be available at 50+ dealer locations across India, including Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. It will also be available on Amazon, priced at INR 64,990 (ex-showroom).

Tata Motors Resumes Delivery Operations In Select Cities 

Tata Motors resumed delivery operation of Nexon EV in select cities through authorised showrooms in designated green zones. The company said that the customers who have booked the Tata Nexon EV in Chennai, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru are receiving their vehicles based on booking priority. Besides these cities, Tata Motors will soon restart deliveries of Nexon Electric in other cities as well.

EV Headlines From Around The World

Hyundai Motors Partners With LG Chem For EV Batteries

South Korean Automaker Hyundai Motors and its sister company Kia Motors has partnered with LG Chem as one of the battery suppliers for its upcoming new electric vehicle models. According to a Reuters report, the details of the supply contract, including the electric vehicles and the full amount of the deal has not yet been disclosed due to confidentiality. Further, the report stated that Hyundai Motor had mentioned last year that it would be launching 16 EV models by 2025 with an aim to boost electric vehicles sales to 560K.

Tesla Slashes Prices On Its EVs To Boost Demand 

As a measure to keep customer interest in its electric vehicles from dipping due to the pandemic, Elon Musk owned Tesla has decided to slash prices on its vehicle lineup, including Model 3, Model X and Model S electric vehicles. It has slashed the prices by $2,000, thereby bringing it to less than $40K for Model 3 and the Model X and S witnessed price cuts of $5000 and is now priced at $81,190 and $76,190, respectively. However, the price of Model Y has remained the same.