TVS Motor Company on Monday introduced an affordable variant of its top selling electric scooter iQube with prices starting from ₹94,999 (ex-showroom). The price is inclusive of the Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme (EMPS) and state government subsidies as well as a cashback by the two-wheeler maker.
The entry-level trim comes with a 2.2-kilowatt-hour battery and offers a top speed of 75 kilometres per hour (kmph). TVS claims its cheapest EV offers 75 kilometres of real-world range on full charge.
The top variant with 5.1 kWh battery and 150 km range is priced at ₹1.85 lakh (ex-showroom).
TVS Motor notched up three places to become India’s second-largest electric two-wheeler manufacturer in FY24. It sold over 40 lakh two-wheelers in FY24. Of these, 1.83 lakh were electric, up 123% compared with 82,108 units sold in the previous fiscal.
There will be multiple price points in the EV market with different ranges, TVS Motor managing director Sudarshan Venu told Fortune India in an interview last month. “Some customers want entry-level, some want delivery vehicles with higher range requirements. A motorcycle customer who may want to go for a sporty ride may want something else. Some would want more power. There will be multiple segments in the market,” he said.
Venu expects electric vehicles to contribute 20-25% of total volumes of the company in the next three years from 5% currently. The government is targeting 80% of all two-wheeler sales to be electric by the end of the decade.
On the need for a common fast charging standard for two-wheelers, Venu believes home charging is the way forward for two-wheelers. “We will see as the market evolves and who creates the network like there is Tesla in the U.S. I don’t see it as a major issue because, it’s really going to be home charging. Many fast charging vehicles are able to fast charge at home as well,” he said, adding that fast-charging infrastructure may be helpful for people at a pinch.
TVS Motor is now venturing into Western markets like Europe and the U.K. To compete in industrialised economies, the company is ramping up its product portfolio in the premium segment. TVS acquired Britain's iconic sporting motorcycle marque Norton in 2020. It is investing 100 million pounds in the performance motorcycle brand. “Once we bought Norton, we completely re-started the company with a strong engineering team, design team, and commonising the supply chain. The next year you will start seeing many of these products come into the market,” said Venu.
TVS, which has had a decade-long partnership with BMW Motorrad, makes five 310cc motorcycles and the electric BMW CE 02 under this arrangement. Over 25,000 BMW Motorrad motorcycles are made each year at TVS’ Hosur plant.
“With BMW, we have had some presence in European markets for some time. We have our e-bike business there and Norton is launching. Contribution to our revenues from advanced economies will rise,” said Venu.
TVS Motor is also looking at new categories such as e-bikes. It had acquired Switzerland’s largest e-bike maker Swiss E-Mobility Group. “We see e bikes as a rapidly growing global category of over $25 billion. It’s an opportunity for us to be in this market. With the slowness in the European markets, there have been some headwinds but we are improving the products. We are improving the distribution. As the market comes back, we will come back in a stronger way and expand to other markets outside Switzerland,” said Venu.
