The two and three-wheeler segments will take the lead in consumption patterns for electric vehicle (EV) tyres, according to Anuj Kathuria, President-India, JK Tyre & Industries. These will be followed by passenger vehicles, intra-city buses and commercial vehicles.
'Right now the EV tyre market is small. That said, we will be seeing rapid growth in the times to come,' he told Mobility Outlook.
Last fiscal saw 429,217 EVs sold compared to ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles’ tally of 16,375,799 units. Electric three-wheelers have already outpaced the sales of their ICE siblings while electric two-wheelers are growing fast too with 800,000 to 1,000,000 units estimated to be sold this fiscal.
Catering To Delhi’s E-Buses
The passenger vehicle segment has not shown much growth, but commercial vehicles, especially buses, have shown greater potential. JK meets the radial needs of a lion’s share of electric buses operating in Delhi.
'Across segments, we are working with almost all the EV OEMs and (EV) tyres are going to remain a major focus area for us in the times to come,' said Kathuria.
The company plans to collaborate with vehicle manufacturers for R&D as part of the strategy to develop EV tyres since these are lighter and produce less noise In terms of sourcing raw materials, while there is no issue with quality, Kathuria said suppliers need to focus on quantity.
“Everything is available in India but we still have to import raw materials because the sources are not enough to cater to the entire tyre industry,” he added.
Highest Ever Revenue
The company announced its highest-ever quarter revenue of INR 3,764 crore during Q2FY23. It has also earmarked INR 100 crore for R&D of which a substantial portion will be allocated for developing EV and fuel-efficient tyres.
'We have been working on alternative materials for a long time now, and are hopeful that not only will we be able to present better tyres but will also be able to go green in terms of manufacturing,' said Kathuria.
While remaining confident that EV tyres will contribute a significant amount to JK Tyres' revenue by 2027, he wondered how OEMs would be able to bring down the cost of ownership for end consumers.
The company launched its first set of EV tyres for buses, trucks, LCVs, and passenger cars in July this year. At the launch, its management had said that the tread pattern for the same was crafted using advanced materials.
Making new investments for increasing tyre production capacities via the greenfield route is not on the cards as JK has already makig arrangements at its existing facilities (brown field) to allow more capacities at any point.
“Our radial manufacturing plants are ready for ICE and EV tyres. We will go by what the market wants,” signed off Kathuria.
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