With EVs, we are at 6% penetration in India with 94% still to go: Kinetic Green's Sulajja Firodia Motwani

What’s the thought behind launching a refreshed brand identity and mission statement? Share the significance of the rebranding and what it represents for the company...

Kinetic is an established brand that people have known and trusted over many years, and we wanted to send out the message that at Kinetic Green we are dedicated to ‘Green’. While some of the other companies in the space may be selling ICE (Internal Combustion Engines) vehicles along with electric vehicles they're not embodying or embracing ‘green’ fully. They have their fingers in all the pies. We want to be the torchbearers and take a stand that electric and green is the future. 

Even today, people need to be educated, they need to be told with a lot of confidence, conviction and passion, as there are so many misconceptions when it comes to EVs. The youth today are genuinely concerned about sustainability and they are looking for brands that have a socially and environmentally responsible agenda. We must come out and say that if you care about the planet like we do, then green is the way - electric is the way. 

It's a bold statement via which we are challenging, and influencing people to think about the planet. We used the words ‘planet at our heart’ in our logo because people would connect to it. The other option we had was ‘engineered for the planet’. I told my team that it is inward-looking, akin to saying ‘I'm engineered for the planet’. But the moment you say ‘planet at our heart’, it becomes about you and me. Thus, we're trying to involve people and at the same time, also committing ourselves to this fully - not only in terms of making green technology and products, but also by pledging to plant across one crore trees, pledging to do ESG programs, to embrace green in our work, and making people aware. 

The EV industry has experienced substantial growth in the last few years and the two-wheeler market is a crowded space to operate in. How can you get a top-of-mind presence in this market?

In a way with EVs, it's still just the beginning. It's only 5-6% penetration with still 94% to go. It's too early in the day, a lot of changes are going to come, and new heroes will emerge as torchbearers, just like how Tesla emerged as a torchbearer in the US. I feel that in this space, Kinetic has the best of both worlds. In a lot of ways we are an EV startup, because we are a pure-play EV company - we don’t have ICE and EV as divisions. We are passionate about EVs - thinking, breathing, living it. 

In a lot of other ways, we are a pedigreed OEM. We have the Kinetic brand behind us, which is loved and trusted by people, as against some EV startup names most of which are unfamiliar. 

Secondly, we understand the automotive market. Automobiles are serious business. It's about understanding the trends, R&D, engineering, supply chain, manufacturing, cost control, dealership network, advertising, marketing, positioning, sales service, spare parts, warranty et al. And there's safety and regulations. Regulations are important, they always change and you have to be able to adapt to them. 

People are riding your vehicles, their families are going to be riding it. It better be safe. People are entrusting you with their lives. So it's not everybody's game and in a lot of ways, some of the startups may not make the cut as one moves up the performance ladder. Honestly, they don't have the wherewithal. We have that pedigree as we've run the automobile business for the last 50 years and we bring that to the table. Thus, we are the best of both worlds - a pedigree OEM with a solid brand and experience and we are an EV startup. 

Since July when I put up that update, we have got all the approvals for e-Luna from ARAI and from FAME also around September. We're currently doing a pilot, we have seeded 1,000 vehicles - 500 in B2B in a fleet operator model to see the use case for delivery. And more than 500 in Maharashtra in select dealerships. So I think by the end of December or somewhere around January we'll finish the pilot. We should be able to go national around the end of January or February. It's very much on track and we are very excited about it.

So the segment that we are in, which is two-wheelers and three-wheelers, luckily there is no ‘chicken and egg’ situation. Like if one thinks about buying an electric car and wants to go from Mumbai to say, Shirdi or Nasik, you’ll be plagued by questions such as ‘what if there is no charging station?’. So then that's a chicken and egg situation whether the charging infra will come first or the e-car will come. Like if charging infrastructure is out but there's no EV car on the road, infrastructure will become useless. Whereas 2 and 3 wheelers are intracity products only. Typically, people charge it at home, use it all day, come back and charge, akin to the mobile phone which one charges at home and typically use all day.

Today there are lakhs of e-rickshaws in Delhi because one doesn't need a charging infra, one just needs a three-pin plug and the charger is provided. So public charging infra is not a must for these segments like it is a must for four-wheelers.

That's exactly what we are doing with Zulu if you see with a price of INR 94,500 which is comparable to the price of an ICE scooter. The second thing we're doing is this whole battery as a subscription because EVs are not expensive per se, it is the battery, which is adding to the cost. Like when you're buying a petrol vehicle, and spending 35,000 rupees a year, almost a lakh and a half in three years for petrol. In EVs, you're buying the vehicle with the fuel in it - so you are not spending anything on the fuel. The moment you have a battery on subscription, the EV becomes more affordable. And battery as a fuel also is one fourth the cost of petrol as a fuel. So, slowly this awareness will build that it is not that EVs are expensive. You're buying the EV with the fuel, which is the battery and it is more cost-effective in the long run.

By going there, having our dealers, making it accessible, and building awareness. India now has electricity nearly everywhere. In fact, in some places, they have no petrol pumps but electricity is there. I think it's a matter of time before people see the benefits of EVs and I think the tide is turning. The e-mobility wave is coming. So long as the Government continues the support for the next three to four years, this train has left the station. Notably, India is very quick to pick up - how quickly it picked up on mobiles and smartphones and now one sees everyone using apps and the likes of Gpay. 
 

We're looking at bringing EV mobility for the masses as a value player. We've decided on our space, we're not going to be looking at top-end scooters or motorcycles. We're looking at scooters and e-Luna, going to the big cities, small towns, and rural areas, penetrating, providing finance, service, and support like a value mass player. And that's where the numbers are in India. We focus on bringing value and our special Kinetic DNA - of advanced products at an affordable price.