TVS Motor Company, headquartered at Hosur and the third largest two wheeler manufacturer in India, has purchased a 14.78% stake in Ultraviolette Automotive. This Bangalore based startup, believes in a future with clean energy and sustainable transportation.
Ultraviolette Automotive – an electric vehicle and energy infrastructure start up, was incorporated in December 2016. It is headed by Narayan Subramaniam (CEO) and Niraj Rajmohan (CTO) and comprises of a team of 13 members.
They say – “Over the next 15 years, cities will account for nearly 90 percent of global population growth, 80 percent of wealth creation, and 60 percent of total energy consumption. We are building an electric vehicle ecosystem for this urban environment.”
Though products of Ultraviolette Automotive have not yet been detailed, it is learnt that the company is actively testing three prototypes. The start-up has developed a café racer style electric motorcycle while a hybrid bicycle and an unmanned aerial vehicle is also under development. If all goes well, TVS could incorporate the technology into their existing product line-up, which includes the likes of Jupiter and Apache.
With this new venture, TVS Motor Company becomes the second two wheeler maker to enter into an alliance with an EV start-up. Hero MotoCorp has also purchased 26-30% stake in Ather Energy, another Bengaluru based startup.
Ather Energy has developed S340, an electric scooter with features that is sure to attract the younger set of buyers in the country. Launch of S340 is slated for sometime in 2018. There are other EV start-ups in India besides Ather Energy, Bengaluru that already have products ready for the market. Tork Automotive, Pune has already launched the T6X, an electric motorcycle boasting of streetfight like styling. This T6X will enter production in early 2018.
