Corrit Electric has been in the market for quite some time. But its two-wheeler business is just starting. With its new scooter, the Transit, the brand is targeting last-mile delivery providers with a refreshing design and claims to provide 0-100 per cent charge in just 30-35 minutes. We sat down with Mayur Mishra, CEO, Corrit Electric to understand the market and talk about how the brand started, its latest scooter, its target audience and future plans including expansion in the Middle East and Africa. We also talk about its partnership with Ather Energy.
As told to Karan Ramgopal
Mayur Mishra: Corrit as the brand has been here for about nine years now. We have been in the renewable energy sector but primarily in solar space since 2015. 2020 is when we deep-dived into EVs and we thought of making some good kicks-ass two-wheelers. Our first vehicle was a fat-tyre scooter. But there were some regulatory changes, it was a heavy vehicle of 95kg+ and as per the government norms of October 2022, anything over 65kgs had to go through high-speed licensing. So we had to bring it back to the garage. Parallelly we were also working on the delivery-focused vehicle – Transit which we launched at the Auto Expo last year, and got the homologation completed only in May this year. So it has been a long rigorous process that we had to go through. It is a completely 100 per cent indigenous vehicle designed by us from scratch, we hold the entire IP and all sorts of rights with respect to the design and engineering. Until now even if you order a Domino’s pizza, it might get delivered in an EV but you will see some sort of jugaad where two iron strips are welded at the back and the pillion seat is spoiled because you have iron clamped over it and you have to put it in the box. So all this sort of jugaad was something that we wanted to get away with. This is something that is purely meant for last-mile delivery guys. Some of the other feedback we had received from the delivery guys before we started working on it was that they wanted something to look good as well. Up until now, there were certain scooters but it was a naked chassis and purely focused on low-cost and high-speed sort of a concept. But because of that, they had to also purchase an Activa or Splendor kind of vehicle for their family and personal use. So that’s where we invested a lot on the design aesthetic part as well. At least, we believe that the vehicle looks pretty good, and sturdy, and it’s made in India – made for India and made for the world. That’s the entire concept of it. All our sourcing is indigenous, we don’t import anything from China, of course, our battery suppliers would be importing cells at the end of the day, but our sourcing is 100 per cent from India. We have about 10 dealerships, but we’ll be gradually starting from August. NCR is our focus, to begin with. So the first 5-6 months will be purely focused on Delhi NCR. Might be setting up about 5-6 dealerships during this duration and the idea is to come to a stage where we can do a business of about 1000 units every month before we can expand to all the other cities as well. Given it’s a B2B product, we are in touch and doing pilots with all the big names like Swiggy and Zepto.
Q: Could you describe the company’s initial goals when it was founded nine years ago, what your current activities are, and how the journey has been so far?
A: We started in 2015, but by virtue of being in the renewable energy sector until 2019, being young chaps and understanding EVs as a sunrise industry, I thought it was the right time in 2019 to also do something in that space. It's not that it was new at that point in time because certain giants had already arrived. And the first idea that came to us was why don't we try retrofitting a light commercial vehicle? For example, say Tata Ace. In fact, we brought a Tata Ace to the factory as well and we started working on it with a team of around 8 to 10 engineers. We were able to crack the entire design and the engineering part of it but in March 2020 came Corona, the first wave, and that's when the entire thing came to a halt. After a span of 3-5 months when we went back to the garage, that was a time when we understood that in 2-3 years Tata would be making their own new electric ACE and the pricing was probably pegged at Rs 9-10 lakh. We were quite confused about whether retrofitting would make any sense or not because number one, the regulations around retrofitting were very confusing. Since there are models which were launched in 2004 there were models launched in 2006, 2007, and 2008 and for every single model, you have to go back to ICAT ARA again and get the approval. It was very confusing. Also the cost part as well – the retrofitting kit was costing somewhere around Rs 6-7 lakh which is not a big difference as compared to a new Ace.
So that made us think to start working on a two-wheeler industry because India is a two-wheeler business anyway so we thought it would be a more reasonable and competitive industry to get into. Another thing that was right there in our DNA was that design has to be our own. We didn’t want to go the European or Chinese approach of bringing a vehicle and then do some reverse engineering and launch it. Probably 90 per cent of the electric vehicle companies which are still there in the market have some sort of inspiration, if not the entire vehicle, from China. So that's the approach we never wanted to follow. We spent a good lot of time on the first vehicle which was a fat tyre scooter. We launched it in the market at a paltry investment of around Rs 4-5 lakhs in marketing. We did sales of about 400 to 500 units. That was a significant milestone. The vehicle was received in a very decent manner in the NCR market. That’s where we had launched. Unfortunately, due to these regulations, we had to stop selling it.
I think it was 2020 when we reached the first round of funding, the first angel round was about Rs 1-1.5 crore and it was from our friends and family around us. But that gave us a good runway to work for the next 15 to 18 months. Because there were two Covid waves in between, there was hardly any work on the ground. For about six to nine months we were sitting at home because we were practically not allowed to come back to the office and our industry is something where people have to be there in the office to get their heads read. The actual work only started in 2022 (for Transit). We hired a team of about 10 engineers to take a ground-up approach. The first idea was to sit with about 150 delivery guys and understand their challenges. Of course, there were four to five challenges or feedback that were received by all which were range anxiety and charging infrastructure, but the most surprising one was the aesthetics part – they wanted the vehicle to look good. Because when they took their vehicle back home, they were stoked to see that the family rejected the vehicle right away. They said no one would want to onboard a vehicle that has no body panels. So they had to maintain another vehicle for their personal use. One thing they were very spot on about was if you are designing it for us, design a vehicle that looks good and that’s where we invested a lot. We sat with about 4-5 fleet operators as well, understanding their challenges. Space was a big challenge at that time. 99 per cent of such vehicles were imported from China. So even if the motor goes off, they have to wait for 30 to 45 days to get a replacement. And for someone who is into the business of delivery, even the loss of one day is a big one. So they wanted to cut that distance and that's the reason why they have moved on from the OEMs that used to be the main players then. So that’s when we started to make it, we have been doing pilots with about 6-7 companies for the last 6-7 months.
When we launched it during the Auto Expo in 2023, we were quite surprised to see the reception we received. The vehicle looked very different, the vehicle looked sturdy, and the vehicle ticked all the boxes that were needed by fleet operators. More surprisingly, we received about 63 dealership inquiries during the Auto Expo itself and about 20 of them were from Tier 2 and 3 cities. So that was a huge thumbs up for us because we were initially under the impression that EV might take a little longer to fly in Tier 2 and 3 cities but we were taken by surprise. So that was the learning and right now we are still working on the same dealership inquiries because we keep getting follow-ups from them now and then on whether the vehicle was approved or not, and whether the vehicle is getting into production. So cumulatively because it’s a capital-intensive industry, we raised about USD 1 million in 2-3 rounds, but they were all angel rounds. We are right now prepping for Series A of USD 12 million. We have already received a term sheet of about USD 3 million and are further working to close the USD 9 million in the next 2-3 months. That’s where we are in terms of fundraising but our production will kick start from August onwards and the idea is to be supplying about 400-500 units every month for the first 5-6 months. That will also give us a good space of time to have things settled concerning consumer financing, lease financing, wholesale service, and spare parts. These are the lessons we have learnt from the market with other players so we don't want to repeat the mistakes. So that's the strategy for the next 5-6 months.
Q: Initially for the first few months it will be exclusive to the Delhi NCR region?
A: Because Delhi NCR itself is a huge market of about 4-5 crore people. So it’s a huge market to cater to. When you talk about the cities, there is New Delhi which is huge. We can have up to 5 dealership stores, and large dealership stores – not sub-dealers, in Delhi. Then there is Faridabad, Gurgaon, Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad and you can talk about Sonipat, Meerut, Baghpat, Alwar, all these big cities.
Q: In terms of the commercials, are you planning to sell these to individual last-mile delivery guys or you are going to lease them to a fleet?
A: We will follow both models because it’s not necessarily only for fleet operators. There are certain players, it could be a small general store which has to do the deliveries, and they will need the vehicle as well. So for them, the vehicle is available from the dealership stores. The fleet operators can directly get in touch with us. We have our dedicated sales team to cater to their needs. We can have customised solutions as per their demand as well.
Q: Tell us a little bit about the functioning of the Transit.
A: The Transit is coming in two variants. One with a fixed battery of about 2.9kWh that is primarily meant for retail consumers. It gives a range of about 120 kilometres and we have three modes. It starts with 40kmph and then you have 55 and 70kmph, so the top speed is 70kmph. At 55kmph you get a range of about 100-105km on a single charge and at 40kmph you get about 130km on a single charge. So this is with a fixed battery that is non-removable and we are targeting to push it to Tier 2 and 3 cities because their demand for range is not huge. People who are even using it for a delivery business are riding for about 65-80km in a single day because the city, by virtue of its size, is small.
For large cities like New Delhi, we have a variant where the battery is removable. Number two, we are completely built on a fast charging platform, so our vehicle can charge from zero to 100 per cent in about 30-35 minutes. And we are further working to bring it down to about 15 minutes in the next 3 months. We are not a big fan of battery-swapping infrastructure. I don't think it’s a scalable model in a country like India because for millions of riders to have an infrastructure where you can have the same battery that can be swapped at every nook and corner is a very difficult task. Also when comparing an ICE vehicle to an electric vehicle, I think the replacement is going to come when you can charge the vehicle in the same amount of time as you can refuel your ICE vehicle. That’s the idea that we are following.
Q: Being able to fast charge is great but what about the infrastructure for fast charging because that’s not going to be available everywhere?
A: Because we are tying up with the fleet operators directly and they are going to be a large consumer of fast charging. Wherever they have their warehouses or their stores around the city, we will be setting up these fast chargers at their place. We are also tying up with Athergrid, so they right now have about 2500 fast charging stations across the country, so our vehicles can be charged at their charging stations as well.
Q: Is it using the same LV CCS2 plug?
A: It’s a Type 7 connector, Ather calls it LV CCS2.
Q: Will you be setting up charging or it’s also going to be taken care of by the fleet operators?
A: We can offer them chargers as well if they specifically want us to do that. Supposedly, if there is a demand by a consumer who hosts 500 units in a single place, I’m sure they would want us to set up chargers for them. But since they will be on the roads, suppose there is a fleet operator who only has some 40-50 bikes, they can use multiple platforms. We will be providing everything to them on the mobile application. At any given point in NCR, we are trying that somebody can find a charger in a space of about five kilometres that can fast charge.
Q: What is a realistic time frame for such a charging infrastructure?
A: Not more than six months. That’s why NCR becomes a pilot for us because once we can crack it, we can just replicate it in any city.
Q: Are you going to focus only on NCR or side by side set up the charging network in other places as well?
A: Yeah, we will do that as well because Ather is already setting up their fast-charging network in the country. So it becomes easier for us to expand. Suppose the next city is Pune, I am sure there will be certain places where Ather has already set up their chargers and are right now planning to set up at a few other places as well. Besides that, we can do our recce and decide where else we can set up these chargers.
Q: How is the registration process, is it any different if a consumer wants to buy it for their personal use?
A: That depends on how the fleet operators want it to be. If the fleet operator wants to register the vehicle in their name then the process is different, but on a lot of occasions, they would want it to be registered in the end rider’s name. In that case, we follow the same.
Q: You are starting operations in the Middle East. What sort of model are you looking at over there?
A: We have finalised a distributor in the Middle East and Africa, and for Africa, Dubai becomes the gateway as well. So it’s a small market for us in the Middle East but Africa is a major one. The model that we are pushing out for UAE because the roads are pretty big, distances are far away and unlike India where people only drive 120 or 130 kilometres in a single day, people may drive up to 250 kilometres there. So there we are giving a vehicle with two batteries of 2.1kWh each where one is removable and the other one is fixed. So it’s a 4.2kWh capacity. The highest speed that we are offering there is 100kmph because that’s the basic necessity for a two-wheeler rider over there.
In Africa, the specifications are pretty much similar to what we are doing in India. We don’t need to make any changes. But it's very hard to set up public charging. Anyone and everyone has to charge from their AC charger.
Q: Is charging a challenge in the Middle East?
A: We attended an Electric Vehicle Innovation Summit in May. That’s their flagship electric vehicle event. So we launched the vehicle in that event itself. There were at least 50 to 60 charging companies because EV space has started to grow very rapidly – for a four-wheeler market, not for a two-wheeler market – but because the charging infra companies are already coming in the authorities and regulations have already started to evolve. That is making the scene a little easier for us, but of course, it’s something that has to be started from scratch there, it’s not something that is already there on the platform.
Q: Do you see the acceleration happening faster over there with the authorities being a little more channelized and faster with the processes?
A: Yes, that is there. There are hardly 6-7 cities. Of them, the focus will be on 2-3 cities initially like Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. And then we can expand to all the other parts as well. But it's easier there to execute because you have to just reach out to one authority and that gives you access to the entire city. So in terms of regulations, in terms of approvals, it’s a very friendly city.
Adoption will not be a challenge. They have some 6-7 primary fleet operators and we have already cracked deals with 2-3 of them. So we will be sending around 100 bikes for a pilot that will start from September onwards in Dubai.
Q: In terms of cost, is there a big benefit to doing electric versus ICE over there?
A: If I purely talk in terms of the margin, that remains almost similar. Probably, it could be a 5 to 10 per cent hike in terms of margin but it’s not something that we are looking at. We just want to take the first-mover advantage in the city and want to establish a base for the two-wheel industry.
Q: Are you looking at a similar timeline for Africa as well?
A: We are starting to send the vehicles as soon as this month because there’s hardly any engineering that we have to do. It comes with a portable charger, the vehicles are already ready, so we will be sending 4 or 5 of them within this month itself to Africa for pilots.
Q: The scooter for the Middle East is not ready yet?
A: No, there are certain engineering changes that we have to make. As I said, we have to send the vehicle with two batteries so that requires some bit of engineering to be done. It's underway, we expect that to be completed by August.
Q: You recently acquired ICAT certification. Can you just expand on that?
A: Any vehicle has to get homologated before it hits the street. On May 30th, we received the homologation and the clearance of certification from ICAT to start doing business with Transit in India. The ICAT certificate is something that is accepted in many other countries as well like Nepal and certain African countries. And even in Dubai, certain tests are approved by ICAT. Of course, there are multiple other tests that we have to get done to get the vehicle homologated in that part of the world. But this test is a huge testimonial to the engineering that we have done because we have hardly copied anything – everything is done in-house by our engineers so it’s a good testimonial that we have done a few things right.
Q: Is the focus right now to hunker down and properly execute these plans or do you have other plans?
A: We have to be very flexible. While we are saying that we are launching in NCR first, that’s the idea primarily that we want to follow because of the sheer amount of populace that resides in Delhi NCR. It will give us a huge benefit because our headquarters are here. If things go south anywhere, it’s easier for us to tackle. Plus, there are a lot of fleet operators as well. Zomato is headquartered in Delhi NCR. Swiggy is having a big business here as well. So, it becomes easier for us to pilot because once we start from scratch, in terms of production I am sure that it is going to be a learning curve for the entire team for the next four months to get the production right as well. So that’s where we are and once we are reasonably confident with all the aspects, it only becomes a replication game at every other part.
Q: Where are you manufacturing right now?
A: We have been contract manufacturing in Manesar right now. The entire R&D space is in Greater Noida, that’s in-house.
Q: Any plans to make manufacturing also in-house as well?
A: Probably as soon as we start doing 3000 to 4000 units every month, we will immediately decide to take that in-house.
Q: Do you have the space in-house set up already?
A: Yes, we have the space but it makes no sense to acquire it right now. Of course, once the Series A round is completed, I am sure we will start some activities in that regard as well.
Q: In terms of future plans, do you want to become the A-player in the last-mile B2B industry or do you also have a target towards entering the commuter segment?
A: For the first 2-3 years, I think we would want to have a king’s say in the last-mile delivery segment. We want to be the only A-player in this industry for the next 3 years. Once we have established a base and people start to recognize that there’s Corrit Electric that makes some sturdy vehicles, that’s when we can take a call to enter into the B2C segment as well but that’s not something that we are looking at right now. We just want to have a laser-sharp focus concerning the last-mile delivery segment. We also believe that that's going to be the first industry to transition from ICE to EV in a complete sense.
Q: Can you shed a little more light on your fast-charging capability?
A: Fast charging is something that we are heavily investing in and we have tied up with a UK-based firm that will be cracking a 100 per cent charging under 10 minutes concept. Hopefully, within this financial year, we should be revealing that to the public. If that happens we become the fastest-charging scooter in the world and that's what we are targeting.
Q: Are you hoping to make it backwards compatible with the scooters that have already been produced before this?
A: Yes. Batteries will have to be replaced, because these batteries may have some limitations with the current. Ultimately it is a function of voltage and current. But the same vehicle can accommodate the other batteries as well.
Q: Would fast charging require a different type of cell chemistry to make sure you get the same life out of them or is it a myth that fast charging will ruin your battery?
A: Cell chemistry need not be mingled with. The cooling mechanism is something that needs a lot more strengthening if you need fast charging because, at the end of the day, the batteries will have to be able to carry that sort of temperature resistance. Once you have fast charging, in a span of 10 minutes, the temperatures might rise north of 300 degrees Celsius.
With fast charging, the battery life will still come down by 5-10 per cent, maybe 20, but still good enough to last for 2000 cycles. That equals 5 years easily.