Chennai-based two-wheeler manufacturer TVS Motor Company is gearing up to develop and roll out electric two-wheelers in the domestic market.
Cashing in on its prior experience in manufacturing electric mobility, the company is developing models which it thinks would fulfill requirements of the modern-day customer, Mint reported on Sunday.
"We are very keen on that (electric) space and as a major OEM in the two-wheeler space, we believe that we will have a strong presence in the electric segment as well," TVS Motor Company vice-president (marketing) commuter motorcycles, scooters and corporate brand Aniruddha Haldar told Press Trust of India.
Speaking on electric mobility in the country and the way ahead, he said this segment is going to be significant in future. "We have been working on it for quite some time. In the past, we had products (electric...) too. We continue to work on that and as technology has grown so has our capability," PTI quoted Haldar as saying.
The company is adopting such a strategy when the Union government is aggressively pushing automakers to switch to green technology. Back in April, the then Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal had unveiled an ambitious plan that sees India using only electric vehicles by 2030.
Last week, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari had sent a strong message to automakers to move to alternative-fuel vehicles
"I am going to do it, whether you like it or not. I will bulldoze. Petrol diesel banaane walon kaa band-baajaa bajaanaa hai (We will take the makers of petrol/diesel engine vehicles to task)," Gadkari said at an event in Delhi.
Currently, the Indian electric two-wheeler market has players like Hero Electric and Lohia which sell battery-powered scooters.
When asked about the time-frame to roll out such products, Halder told PTI: "We will be in the market soon." Without confirming product details, he further added that the company can introduce both new scooters and bikes in the electric mobility segment.
At present, sales of electric scooters remain extremely low, with only 15,000 to 20,000 unit sales per year against a whopping 1.7 crore petrol two-wheelers being sold annually. Experts say the high prices of lithium-powered scooters is one of the main reasons behind the low sales.
Another important reason why customers prefer petrol two-wheelers over electric ones is due to the fact that 99 percent of electric scooters manufactured in India come with very low speeds.
The company holds 15 percent market share in the domestic two-wheeler space. TVS has moved up the ladder to take second spot in the scooter segment. In the April-August period of the 2018 fiscal, the company sold 4,48,188 scooters.
