Not easy for India to go from ICE vehicles to EVs: Pawan Munjal

Pawan Munjal, CMD & CEO of Hero MotoCorp

Hero MotoCorp (HMC), formerly Hero Honda, is one of the largest two-wheeler manufacturers in the world. Talking to reporters at the launch of its Vida brand of e-scooters, Pawan Kant Munjal, the company’s CMD and CEO, said it was going to go aggressive in the electric two-wheeler (E2W) space. Nonetheless, he added that internal combustion engines (ICE) will remain relevant in the foreseeable future. Below are the edited excerpts:

You have priced your e-scooter at a premium. Does it mean you have left some room for more affordable products in the future?

What was shown (during the launch) was best-in-class in terms of specifications, performance, and everything else. It is clearly value for money. It is loaded with features, and every feature costs money. We are starting with a premium product. It doesn't mean that we won’t have a more affordable product in terms of pricing.

You said the Vida launch was delayed due to supply chain issues. Have those been resolved?

Those are all behind us. When there were issues with a certain supplier, we made alternative arrangements. We got new suppliers in. We have tested everything thoroughly. Bookings start on October 10 in Delhi, Jaipur and Bengaluru.

Deliveries will commence mid-December. We will not go for high volumes right up front. We will open bookings for another eight cities in December, followed by more cities as we ramp up production.

You're the only one in your sector offering removable batteries. Will you have this in your future line-up as well?

Absolutely. In one of our forthcoming products we will have swappable batteries compatible with Gogoro battery swapping stations. (Taiwanese Gogoro and HMC have formed a joint venture to launch a network of battery swapping stations in India).

In terms of distribution, will you be leveraging HMC’s existing dealership network or deploy a new chain of dealers?

We have existing dealers in the three cities we’re launching in. Two experience centres are ready to be opened, one of which is dealer-run. The company is making the investments, but it's dealer-run. The other one is a company-driven experience centre.

Dealerships are HMC’s strength and we will definitely leverage that. Also, besides the dealer outlets in the three launch cities, we will have other dealerships in these cities where the product will be showcased.

Will you be establishing charging stations at the dealerships?

Where is the space inside the dealership to have charging stations? It's not just a station. If you're charging, then you also have the vehicle inside for charging. I don't think that's a possibility. Charging stations will be put up across the cities, and we have also tied up with BPCL and HPCL for charging stations.

So do you see India as a manufacturing hub for EVs in the long term?

I don't see that in the long term. I see that in the short term. We already have a plan in place to go to Latin America, Asia, and Europe. Go to Bangladesh and Colombia, for example, where we have JVs today.

You have announced a massive investment of Rs 10,000 crore in future technologies and products? Are there other technologies you are exploring, because there are concerns over the availability of Lithium?

We are starting out with EVs, so give us time to settle down. Let's go national and global with this. Of course, our Centre of Innovation and Technology (CIT) in India and our tech centre in Germany are always innovating. I'm sure they’re working on future technologies.

What kind of numbers are you looking at, and what’s the planned capacity for next year. In the long term, how much will EV's account for in your total sales?

I don't have any numbers to share today. In terms of capacity, we have put up modular manufacturing, so we can keep increasing. We can keep adding modules as demand and production ramp up.

Some firms have spun off the EV unit into a separate company. Would Vida be an HMC subsidiary in order to attract investors?

Our Emerging Mobility Business Unit (EMBU) is a start-up and has a separate board. It is backed by HMC’s infrastructure, people, technology, and balance sheet.

There is sufficient cash available today. Because of HMC’s infrastructure, the requirement of cash will be lower. Having said that, as we grow we will evaluate how we want to go financially.

What is the role of Ather Energy in your EV ecosystem?

We are a strategic investor there, the largest shareholder in Ather. It is a good partnership. We keep exchanging technologies among ourselves. I know that our teams are working on being able to share the charging infrastructure between Vida and Ather EVs.

Given that you have invested $60 million in US EV firm Zero, going forward, will you be exploring electric motorcycles? Will they be sporting the Zero badge?

It's easier to start with scooters (in electric two-wheelers). Abroad, practically, everyone has gone with scooters. There are very few who've gone with motorcycles. Having said that, we've already announced our collaboration with Zero in the motorcycle space. Vida is the mother brand for Hero EV products.

The industry is moving away from ICE to EVs: do you see that as a threat?

We are big in motorcycles. And as of today and the foreseeable future, there's not so much happening in electric motorcycles.

We are not that big in electric scooters. Which is an opportunity for us. While many companies and countries have talked about a certain date on which they want to switch over to EVs, please remember that for a country like ours, it's an uphill task.

Having said that, we are going to do it, but ICE will be around for quite some time. Although we are only talking about EVs today, I want to state that we have enough and more coming up in ICE.

How long will ICE be around?

If anyone puts a number to it, hats off to that person and the company. As this industry is evolving, we are learning, and maybe in a few years’ time, we will be able to say when.