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As the government has been instrumental in pushing electric vehicle adoption, it should extend the FAME subsidy scheme for another year to help the industry achieve an inflection point and build a robust supply chain, said K Vijaya Kumar, MD & CEO, Lectrix EV Pvt Ltd, an EV start-up, which is part of the diversified SAR Group.
“The inflection point will be when the E2W volumes reach volumes of 3-5 lakh units a month. Had the FAME subsidies continued, the volumes would have touched about 2 lakh units now with a festive boost. It is now languishing at about 60,000 levels. Also, subsidy extension will help the industry establish the complete supply chain and associated ecosystem,” he told businessline.
The Gurgaon-headquartered company launched its first set of electric scooters LXS G2.0 and LXS G3.0, priced at ₹1 lakh and ₹1.03 lakh, respectively, in July and deliveries started last month.
The company has sold close to 3,000 units of its electric scooters, according to Vahan Dashboard. “We have witnessed very good traction with bookings of more than 12,000 units for our e-scooters. This is the first product that has been launched with segment-specific 93 features,” said Kumar.
The company has opened about 175 dealerships across the country, including 17 in Tamil Nadu. The company’s production capacity will be ramped up from 3,000-4,000 units to 5,000 units to meet the demand. However, it has already built a lithium-ion battery capacity of 20,000 units a month.
“For prospective two-wheeler buyers, a host of good quality ICE scooters are available in the market. To compete with these products, one needs to offer a product with much better quality, reliability, and features. Keeping this in mind, we are offering a robust electric scooter to compete with the best at the same price levels, he added.
Discussing the EV product quality, Kumar, who worked for TVS Motor and Greaves Electric Mobility earlier, said EV makers should not take a shortcut route to launch products. Robust product quality is key in attracting and sustaining the interest of EV consumers.
“In order to complete the tests for all parts in the chassis of our vehicle, we had to delay our launches by 6-8 months,” he added.
Discussing the dealerships and after-sales, Kumar said the company had standardised procedures to ensure the right investments by the dealer partner for a long-term play. We send spare parts first to the dealer. Even if a small part needs to be changed, it should be rectified immediately and can’t take weeks, he said.
It is learned that EV dealerships by various OEMs vanish after some period in several cities due to a lack of sales and viability. Hence Lectrix says its experience in this business comes in handy to ensure robust after-sales service support.
“Our primary focus will be on rolling out electric two-wheelers targeting different categories and we are investing in developing these products. We will also launch electric bikes. We will not be a niche player and our positioning will be mass premium in the E2W market,” he said.
The company is hoping to end this fiscal with total volumes of about 40,000 units and is aiming for EBITDA positive in FY24.
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