Former Tesla executives-led DG Innovate enters India in a JV with EVage Motors

EVage CEO Inderveer Singh and DGI CEO Peter Bardenfleth Hansen

DG Innovate, a UK-based sustainable mobility and energy-storage solutions firm led by former executives of Tesla, on May 8 announced its India entry through a joint venture (JV) with EVage Motors, an electric truck manufacturing startup.

As part of the JV, in which DG Innovate will hold 60 percent and the rest by EVage, they will manufacture electric motors at around 98.5 percent efficiency.

"We have been looking at the Indian market and it has real potential in terms of EV penetration, green transition, and growth. This is not something that happened in a day, we had been evaluating this opportunity for over a year and we are very excited about this market," DG Innovate CEO Peter Bardenfleth Hansen said.

The motors would be made at EVage’s Modular Miniature Manufacturing (M CUBE) micro-factory in Punjab's Mohali. The first batch would be available over the next 12-18 months, EVage Founder & CEO Inderveer Singh said.

"The factory is currently producing over one electric truck a day, for a total of more than 300 to date. We intend to get the first motors for EVage and then it will be available for all players," Singh added.

Hansen, who left Tesla in 2019 to join DGI, said the company was impressed by EVage and its production efficiencies, adding there were growing opportunities in India and the Asian market.

"DGI has the most advanced motor technology and now that it will be available in India and to all the players is a big testimony to brand India in the global stage," Singh said.

Primarily a research and development company, DG Innovate is developing products alongside major manufacturers in transportation and energy sectors, research institutions and the UK government. It has filed 18 patents.

Its R&D activities are broadly split into novel electric motor technologies and energy storage solutions.

Hansen took over as the CEO in 2023 and was joined by former Tesla executives, including Christian Eidem and Jochen Rudat, as executive directors.

The JV firm will target the Asian EV market, offering electric trucks with better efficiency at a reduced total cost of ownership
for fleet owners. The trucks would offer a 5-7 percent increased range on the same charge.

"The volumes that we look to produce will depend on the demand and we will set up the lines accordingly," Singh said.

Founded in 2014, New Delhi-headquartered EVage supplies electric trucks to Amazon India fleet among others . It has over 150 people from both aeronautics and automobile backgrounds at its R&D and robotics centre in Mohali and Delhi.

EVage raised around $28 million from US-based venture capital firm RedBlue Capital in 2022.