Simple Energy plans to roll out 2 new affordable e-scooters in next quarter

Mumbai, EV startup Simple Energy is looking to roll out two new e-scooters in the next quarter which would be attractively priced for the consumers, its founder Suhas Rajkumar said. With the introduction of affordable e-scooters, the company is expecting to retain not only the existing investors but also onboard institutional players and family offices globally for its proposed USD 100-million fund-raise, Rajkumar told PTI.

The company last month launched its maiden premium e-scooter Simple ONE, at Rs 1.45 lakh and commenced deliveries in a phased manner with Bengaluru to begin with from 7th of this month.

The introduction of an affordable e-scooter is part of the company's plans to have a portfolio of three scooters, one performance bike and possibly a four-wheeler in the next three years, Simple One founder and CEO said.

"Rs one lakh to Rs 1.30 lakh is the affordable price point for a low-end scooter with minimal performance. This is what would matter to the customers. And we are working on those price points and looking to compete with those brands," Rajkumar said, adding that the e-scooters, will be launched in the next quarter.

Electric two-wheeler sales in the last fiscal surged over two-and-half fold year-on-year to 8,46,976 units (based on data sourced from OEMs), EV manufactures body SMEV had said in April.

Of this, the industry saw sales of 1.2 lakh low-speed e-scooters with top speed less than 25 km/hour, while the total sales of high-speed E2W (top speed more than 25km/hr) stood at 7,26,976 during the year.

Rajkumar said Simple Energy has shelved plans to develop a vehicle for the last-mile delivery as almost 90 per cent of the market has already been covered by the earlier entrants.

Simple Energy's focus will be to develop the B2C model more going forward, he said, adding that the company is working on the charging infra, which is expected to go live in August, Rajkumar said.

On funding, he said "we have a great pipeline of existing and new investors in our USD 100-million fund-raise plan for production and expansion."

Besides, the company is also tapping in family-offices globally for this round of funding, he said.

Earlier in February this year, Simple Energy had raised USD 20 million in a bridge round from a clutch of investors to ramp up production.

The company has a manufacturing facility in Shoolagiri in Tamil Nadu with an annual capacity of around 5-lakh units.