EV battery's chemistry will evolve to reduce dependency on rare earth materials: TI Clean Mobility's KK Paul

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Murugappa Group has re-entered the EV business 14 years after the Chennai-based conglomerate first launched its electric scooters, way back in 2008. The group company Tube Investments has now launched an electric three-wheeler under an all-new brand.

The electric three-wheelers will be made by Tube Investments' Clean Mobility, which is a subsidiary of the company, and will be sold under the brand name Montra Electric at a starting range of Rs 3.06 lakh. TI Clean Mobility's launch pipeline will comprise electric three-wheelers, tractors, and trucks.

"The battery chemistries will slowly evolve away from rare earth materials to materials that are freely available and the leading energy players will actually re-position this energy space that will make it far easier for OEM manufacturers to adopt battery technology and get away from this crisis of availability of materials," said Kalyan Kumar Paul, Managing Director of TI Clean Mobility in an exclusive conversation with CNBC-TV18.

Speaking on the challenges faced by the company, Paul said, "I think the risk mitigation plans are being drawn up because on the semiconductor thing we've got into a strategic tie-up. Even for battery, we have got into strategic tie-up looking at the volumes that we will have."

TI Clean Mobility, a subsidiary of Tube Investments of India (TII), had earmarked Rs 200 crore for the new venture. "Our capacity today is about 75 000 units per year and when the time comes we will invest," said TII Executive Chairman Arun Murugappan.

"The year 2008 was where we went to electric scooters, and I think we were a little too early for the market itself, and coming to it now after so many years, electric is the way forward. The company will explore markets for electric three-wheeler, tractors, and trucks," Murugappan added.

"The year 2008 was a bit too early for us to do it, and now we're not getting into two-wheelers anymore because it's a crowded market. We would be in more productive segments. Considering it's less crowded, we will have a first mover advantage, and the company's learnings are that they have to be fast to adapt," Murugappan said.