Ultraviolette Automotive, which is backed by TVS Motor Company, is gearing up to roll out the country’s first electrically powered hyperbike by the end of this year. Having already carried out test rides, the EV startup has commenced production trials of this model at its facility near Bengaluru, which will have an installed capacity of 1.2 lakh units per annum in the long term.
To be available in multiple variants, the high-performance bike is expected to be priced in the range of Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs 4.2 lakh. Furthermore, the e-motorcycle is projected to deliver a range of 200 km on a single charge, accelerate from 0-60 km/h in just 2.9 seconds and attain a top speed of up to 140 km/h. Since the company has not set up physical stores yet and have no near term plans to leverage on TVS' chain of dealers, there is a huge possibility that the products will be shipped to customers directly (a strategy adopted by the likes of Ola in India and Tesla in the US).
Narayan Subramaniam, co-founder, CEO and head of design at Ultraviolette Automotive, while talking to Moneycontrol exclusively, said, “It is not just about making a part in-house, it is about creating a perception that India can achieve marvellous products. That is the first step because so far we always appreciate Japanese or European vehicles. But now is the time where we have a possibility to create that same impact from a ‘Made in India’, ‘Designed in India’, ‘Built in India’ ideology.”
When asked about the premium positioning of the model, he clarified, “I would not use the words ‘premium’ or ‘expensive’ or any of that. I would say that this is the chance for us to create a desirable product that the whole world will appreciate. So basically, it is putting India on the global technology map and that is the reason we started this company.”
Recently, Ultraviolette Automotive invited 100 key manufacturing partners and vendors such as Bosch, Brembo, Gabriel, Sundaram Auto Components, Minda and Fiem, among others, to its production facility to witness the F77’s production trials. This was shared by Subramaniam in a recent LinkedIn post.
“We walked our partner community through the Ultraviolette journey encompassing five years of design, R&D, testing and, of course, the final result of how our efforts have come together towards shaping the F77. Aligned to our ambition of becoming a global technology brand, we also gave our extended community a glimpse into the future roadmap of Ultraviolette including the markets we would be targeting beyond India, Together, we scale greater heights. Cheers!” said Subramaniam in the same post.
While the bike may have super acceleration figures, the company itself plans to take it slow. “Although the capacity is 120,000 units (per annum), the first year of production is limited to about 15,000 vehicles. This is to ensure quality and set the processes in place. Through the second year, we will ramp up production to utilize the full capacity of our plant,” said Subramaniam.
The EV maker has already garnered over 70,000 pre-launch booking interests (and counting) from 190 countries, with 85 percent of the orders being generated from the domestic market. While the domestic market will be catered to in the first phase, European and North American markets, which account for the lion’s share of its overseas orders, will be served in the second phase.
“We cannot service 190 countries in the immediate future. But at the same time, we are also seeing that there is tremendous demand from the US and Europe apart from the domestic market. The first year (since product launch), our focus will strongly be on ramping up distribution and (product) availability across the country. Post that, we will be looking at our presence in Europe and the US. We will initiate our global expansion during mid-2024,” said Subramaniam.
When launched, the e-motorcycle will be equipped with a range of connected features such as remote diagnostics, multiple ride modes, bike tracking, over-the-air updates, regenerative braking, ride diagnostics, etc. Interestingly, there is no difference in either technical specifications or the level of connected features between an India-focused variant and an export-oriented one.
As Niraj Rajmohan, CTO at Ultraviolette Automotive, puts it, “The products are already built for global standards. So what we have done is from the very start, we have kept global standards and requirements into the specifications. We have already prepared for that. So there’s no going to be no difference between the products sold in India and the rest of the world.”
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