Headquartered in Kolkata, the electric vehicle OEM Stella Moto is gearing up to launch its second high-speed electric scooter in India. Nakul Jaidka, CEO & Founder, Stella Moto, in a conversation with Mobility Outlook, said that the OEM's high-speed electric scooter will be targeted towards the B2B market.
“We see a huge opportunity in the last-mile logistics space and therefore we are working on launching a last-mile delivery electric scooter in the country,” he said.
Interestingly, the logistics sector, especially the last-mile players, has become one of India's top adopters of electric vehicles. As per a report by Precedence Research, the global last-mile delivery transportation market size was valued at $179.96 billion in 2021 and is expected to hit around $424.3 billion by 2030, and electric two-wheelers are going to play a crucial role.
Success In Low-speed EV Market
A part of the Jaidka Group, Stella Moto manufactures electric two and three-wheelers at its two manufacturing facilities, one located in the eastern part and the other in the southern part of the country. It claims to have sold over 10,000 electric three-wheelers since 2017 and counts HAL, Indian Defence Forces, IITs, and Supreme Plastics as its clients.
“We sold around 1,400 electric three-wheelers and around 4,000 low-speed electric two-wheelers last year. This year we will retail more but our focus would be the high-speed speed segment,” explained Jaidka. The group did not shy away from admitting that it started importing EVs from China in 2017. However, the poor quality of these EVs encouraged it to start manufacturing the same here. It aims to keep the bill of materials (BoM) for high-speed electric two-wheelers free of imports.
“The only challenge is battery cells because nobody makes them here. But as we are sourcing batteries from Indian manufacturers, our BoM for these is 100% Indian,” explained Jaidka.
Also on the cards for the group is a third manufacturing facility. To be set up in the northern part of India, it will help the group reach nearer to its customers in the region, he said. The focus of this third facility will majorly be on high-speed EVs.
“We are not raising any funds to invest in the third factory. All the money that goes into it would be from the family and the Jaidka Group,” he said.
Dealerships To OEM
According to Gopal K Jaidka, Founding Director, Jaidka Group, it was natural for the group to foray into the vehicle OEM business, as the group has been dealing in vehicles of all segments for over a century now. He said, “My family has been in the automotive business for over 100 years. In 1920, the family started its journey by deploying commercial automotive fleets, and then entered into vehicle finance.”
The group was also the first dealer of Hindustan Motors, Escorts two-wheelers, and tractors. It also retailed Pontiac Chevrolet trucks and vehicles of several other OEMs in India. At present, there are over 60 touchpoints for Stella Moto, and the OEM wants to expand aggressively in all parts of the country.
“Majority of our dealers are retailing low-speed electric two-wheelers now. We will appoint new dealers for high-speed ones but will give more weightage to already appointed ones if they show interest,” Jaidka concluded.
As per Prescient & Strategic Intelligence, India's electric scooter and motorcycle market was worth $893 million in 2022, and the same is projected to reach the $6,161 million mark by 2030.
Also Read