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EVage Ventures aims to electrify India's logistics sector through its indigenously designed, and emission-free 4W Electric Commercial Vehicles (e-CV) and aims to offer up to 25 per cent cheaper TCO compared to ICE-CVs
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Chandigarh-based Evage Ventures is confident of changing the country's logistics sector by supplying locally designed emission-free electric commercial vehicles. It has put in over eight years of R&D and obtained over 20 patents. It has developed its first prototype in close consultation with the needs and requirements of companies that will potentially need them.
These include leading companies in the space of FMCG, e-commerce and the logistics industry. Through localised innovation, EVage claims to have significantly reduced the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). These will be actively passed on to customers. "We aim to enable up to 25 per cent cheaper TCO than the ICE counterparts," says Inderveer Singh, Founder & CEO, EVage Ventures.
"After intensive R&D, we built our first prototype of a four-wheeler Commercial EV in 2019. EVage aims to champion sustainable mobility, leading to a technologically advanced, economical, and efficient mid and last-mile delivery. This would positively impact our customers and enhance the quality of life of people across the globe," says Singh.
The journey
The design and manufacturing of a 4W commercial EV are complex, confesses Singh. He recalls: "When we began in 2014, the EV ecosystem was underdeveloped. It entailed starting to work from scratch to deliver a great product. We spent much time learning about the issues of mid/last-mile delivery in the FMCG, e-commerce, and logistics industries because only then could we create a well-engineered product."
Apart from making the initial investments and getting an in depth understanding of the requirements as well as the challenges, Singh says the final product was designed and built-in close coordination with early fleet customers. "We have had over hundreds of conversations with delivery drivers to learn about the problems they confront on the ground. Our final product was designed and built-in close coordination with early fleet customers, including Amazon India's Delivery Service Partner," Singh adds.
Singh claims EVage is the only commercial EV OEMs to have a chassis-up vehicle on the road.
Differentiated product, funding and scope
How different will be the 4W? "At EVage, we are not just building a vehicle but creating an experience to solve the problems of the e-commerce, logistics, and FMCG industries," says Singh. He adds that some of the critical features of his vehicle that differentiate it from other players include an aerospace inspired structure, focus on light-weighting and the use of composite body panels, which have material lighter and stronger than steel. "It is the only EV built on a modular exoskeleton platform. The modularity in assembly and design will help us customize the end product. Plus, we have developed an integrated powertrain (the motor controller, gearbox and battery) from scratch," Singh adds.
What is the scope and size of the potential business for EVage? Singh says the small commercial vehicle market is nearly 400,000+ units domestically, with thousands of vehicles replenished each year. "This market is soaring and presents a huge opportunity to meet the growing demand. We are already focusing on fulfilling the existing order book with the recently raised funds. However, the demand for this sector is enormous," says Singh.
How much investment have you raised till now, and where has it been deployed? "We have recently raised USD 28 million from RedBlue Capital, one of India's largest seed fund rounds in the mobility sector. The current seed investment will be used to equip our production-ready facilities and expand our supply chain to meet the enormous industry demand," he adds.
What is the potential impact you aim to create by adopting your vehicle/EVs in the last mile delivery segment? How will it be different from the current scenario? "We began with the conviction that sustainable transportation will be critical and a driving force in the country's future – 'Reimagine Mobility to Transform Lives and Businesses.' We have a clear guiding principle to be people positive, planet positive and profit positive," Singh says.
As India is industrializing at an unprecedented rate and competing to be the world's factory, urbanization, congestion, and pollution are all becoming more of a problem, he adds. "Through EVage, we hope to make cities more liveable and improve people's standard of living," says Singh.