US-based clean energy and mobility products startup Power Global announced on Thursday a strategic partnership with Hyderabad-based auto-rickshaw manufacturer Rap Eco Motors to supply its eZee swappable lithium-ion battery technology.
The partnership is for the supply of battery technology to Rap Eco’s mass-market electric three-wheeler product line RANIE, which includes a passenger auto-rickshaw, delivery van and cargo vehicle, Power Global said in a release.
Following an initial product launch in April 2022, the companies will partner to manufacture 50,000 e-auto-rickshaws over the next five years, advancing both companies’ roadmaps for made in India manufacturing, it said.
Also, an integral part of this partnership, new Director of Business Development, Rakesh Kerwell, a former Director at DLF Limited and former Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Reliance Industries Limited, will be joining the Power Global team, the company said.
In the world’s largest three-wheeler market, we feel a collective responsibility to commercialize a sustainable and clean solution.
Our complementary footprints across Northern India and Southern India prime us for critical national expansion, which will help spur the country’s adoption of more economical, less pollutive transportation for thousands of drivers, said Parmod Chabria, a Co-founder at Rap Eco Motors.
Rap Eco Motors delivers premier e-rickshaws nationwide and abroad to countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and South America.
The partnership with Power Global marks the company’s first step toward developing a comprehensive 360 solution for the original equipment manufacturer’s electric auto-rickshaws, RANIE, which is built upon Power Global’s 48-volt swappable eZee battery module, according to the release.
In an ever-evolving auto-rickshaw market like India, Power Global’s engineered solution allows Rap Eco Motors to leapfrog the costly and time-consuming process of developing an in-house electrification solution.
Compared to existing fossil fuel-powered auto-rickshaws on the road today, each RANIE vehicle is expected to cut CO2e emissions by 3.7 metric tons annually and eliminate dangerous NOx and PM tailpipe emissions that contribute to air pollution, the release claimed.
For India to successfully capture a bigger market share of the light e-mobility sector, we need to onshore all components of electric auto-rickshaw manufacturing in-country.
Rap Eco Motors has already dominated the regional market through its ambitious business strategy and shares our mutual vision for ’made in India’ electrification solutions, said Pankaj Dubey, CEO of Power Global’s India subsidiary.
Power Global’s domestic battery production plant in Greater Noida is slated to be the country’s largest leading in-country manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries, capable of producing 400,000 modules annually, according to the release.
Supporting the FAME II mandates, which are driving OEMs to develop electrification solutions, Power Global aims to deploy 10,000 batteries and light mobility electric retrofit kits supported by their battery swapping network by the end of 2022.
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