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Piaggio Vehicles Pvt Ltd (PVPL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Italy’s auto major Piaggio Group, seeks to emerge as a top brand in the battery-powered three-wheeler segment like in the diesel-powered three-wheeler space.
The leading three-wheeler maker introduced its new electric autorickshaw Ape E-city FX NE Max, priced at ₹3,46,240 (ex-showroom, Chennai) for the Tamil Nadu market as it continues to expand the presence of its electric three-wheelers.
“We are the market leader in the diesel-powered three-wheeler segment. With the kind of progress we are making in the electric vehicle segment, we hope to achieve a leadership position in the electric 3W segment also,” Amit Sagar, Executive Vice-President-Commercial Vehicles, PVPL, said here after launching its electric passenger three-wheeler.
The new e3-W
The new electric three-wheeler of Piaggio comes with a range of about 145 km on a single charge and other features.
Though the company offers fixed and swappable battery options for its electric three-wheelers in several other States, it will offer only the fixed battery option in Tamil Nadu as the State has yet to see the establishment of swappable EV battery stations. As a result, the Ape E-city FX NE Max has to be charged at home till public charging stations come up in a big way.
However, Sagar said the longer range (on a single charge) offered by the e-auto would serve the needs of the operators’ current travel distances.
Currently, there are more than 26,000 units of its Piaggio’s electric three-wheelers on the roads in the country. The company sells both cargo and passenger electric three-wheelers. According to Vahan Dashboard, the company has, till date, sold more than 15,000 electric three-wheelers in 2023.
The company has more than 1,000 sales and service touchpoints in 408 locations across the country.
Focus on L5
“Our focus will remain on L5 category (E3Ws with speed of more than 25 kmph & motor power exceeding 0.25 kW) of electric three-wheeler space,” said Sagar.
Though L5 category products are gaining momentum with the launch of features-packed products with higher range by players like Mahindra, Piaggio, Omega Seiki, Euler Motors, and TI Clean Mobility among others, the electric three-wheeler market is currently dominated by the L3 category of e-rickshaws (speed less than 25 kmph), which are powered mostly by lead acid batteries and is dominated by unorganised players.
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