India-based Euler Motors, which designs and builds commercial electric vehicles, has raised $60 million in new funding as it works to increase production capacity and expand its offerings.
Singapore sovereign fund GIC led the Series C funding for the New Delhi-headquartered startup. Bloom Ventures, Athera Venture Partners, QRG, ADB Ventures and Moglix participated in the funding, which valued Uller Motors at $200 million.
Before creating the world’s best electric bikes, Euler Motors tested hundreds of prototypes and clocked millions of kilometers to see if they could handle Indian roads and high temperatures.
The result is the HiLoad EV, an electric cargo three-wheeler with a number of industry-record-breaking features, including a payload capacity of 688 kg (1516 lb). It is powered by a 12.4 KWh liquid-cooled battery that takes up to four hours to charge, but supports fast charging to deliver 50 kilometers of range for a 15-minute run.
The startup, which currently produces around 100 vehicles per day, is currently refining 9,000 vehicles.
Before starting Euler, Saurav Kumar founded IoT startup Cube26, which was eventually acquired by financial services giant Paytm. After finding his way out, Kumar spent some time thinking about the environment and the country’s rising pollution — and how India can meet its ambitious emissions-cutting targets if New Delhi needs to do something about two- and three-wheelers. Gasoline vehicles on the road.
“It takes about 10 years to make a dent in anything in India,” he said in an interview. “When we started Uller, it was clear that when people buy a three-wheeler, they are not looking for a luxury product, but an essential product that will feed their family.”
“On an electric vehicle, it only works if you have a really good battery. We had three years before we started using the battery. Our competition is not electric, it’s diesel and gasoline cars,” he said.
Saurav Kumar, founder and CEO of Uler Motors with the startup’s three-wheeler Hiload
The world’s second most populous country has made significant efforts to initiate the electric vehicle movement in recent years. And most of this activity is on two and three wheels.
Indian automakers sold around 430,000 electric vehicles in the 12 months ending in March this year; This was up from 134,821 a year ago. Government data indicates that most of these were two- and three-wheeled vehicles.
New Delhi as well as state governments are offering huge subsidies to people looking to buy electric vehicles to reduce carbon emissions in the country. A $6,140 electric vehicle, after state and federal rebates, will cost customers about $4,300. Before state subsidies, the HiLoad EV retails for around $4,900. Its gasoline rivals sell for around $3,700, signaling the need for more cooperation from governments, venture capitalists and early adopters.
“Our vision is not only to develop industry-leading products, but also to develop the ecosystem to support the EV transition,” Kumar said. “This investment fuels our desire to establish Euler Motors as a leader in driving the electrification of business in India, by increasing our manufacturing capacity, expanding our distribution footprint and strengthening our team to deliver exciting experiences to our customers.”
Uller Motors claims to have set up more than 500 charging points and is the only player to offer customers four different types of chargers. This initiative, which is currently providing services in the capital, plans to expand to 12 regions of the country by the end of the fiscal year.
Also, within this time frame, Uller is hoping to increase its monthly production to 1,000 units, Kumar said. It is also looking at several other vehicle categories, Kumar said, but said the focus will remain on expanding the current model.
Uller said he would eventually like to expand outside India and bring Indian-made vehicles to the world. The startup aims to be “the Tesla of the business,” he said.
