The Kinetic brand was all too familiar to millions of Indians in the 1980s and 90s. The Luna moped and the Kinetic Honda scooter were a prized possession for many. In the 2000s, as motorcycles gained traction and later Indians got hooked to gearless scooters from companies like Honda, TVS and Suzuki, Kinetic lost momentum in the two-wheeler space.
The brand is now stepping on the accelerator hoping to regain momentum, only this time in the electric vehicle space.
Kinetic Green plans to spend around Rs 500 crore over the next three years as it looks to ramp up capacities and launch several new products in the electric two-wheeler and three-wheeler space.
On Monday, the company launched Zulu e-scooter, which is priced at Rs 94,990 ex-showroom in Mumbai.
The company will also offer the scooter with a unique battery subscription plan, whereby the customer could pay a monthly subscription fee for the battery, depending on the usage.
Zulu is powered by a 2.27 kWh Li-ion battery capacity. It has a claimed range of 104 kilometers and a top city speed of 60 km per hour.
Kinetic Green already sells three electric scooters—Zoom, Zing and Flex. The company also sells electric three-wheelers for passenger and cargo operations.
The Zulu will be its fourth e-scooter offering. Kinetic plans to launch several new products going ahead, including the electric Luna in early 2024.
A new high-speed scooter and a new electric passenger three-wheeler platform have also been planned.
"We are in the midst of commissioning our second manufacturing facility in Supa near Pune with a capacity to make one million EVs per year, " said Sulajja Firodia Motwani, founder and CEO of Kinetic Green.
Kinetic Green's e-scooter 'Zulu' | Amey Mansabdar
Kinetic's future plan also includes a global foray with its products. The company has a joint venture with Tonino Lamborghini for designing and manufacturing premium golf carts. This alliance is a strategic thought to enter global EV markets with the brand association with Lamborgini and a differentiated design made in India.
Firodia Motwani sees electric vehicle penetration in India growing "leaps and bounds" in the next five years.
"We aim to be among the top five players on electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers. We have set ourselves a goal to sell one million electric vehicles, thereby reaching a revenue of Rs 10,000 crore a year," Motwani said.
Kinetic has so far cumulatively sold over 100,000 EVs (two and three-wheelers) and reached sales of around Rs 1,000 crore.
Currently, the electric two-wheeler space is dominated by four brands - Ola Electric's S1, TVS' Iqube, Ather's 450X and Bajaj Chetak.
Over 728,000 electric two-wheelers were sold in India in 2022-23 financial year, a 188 per cent year-on-year jump. In the current financial year between April-November, electric two-wheeler sales touched 566,045 units, according to the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles.
