Mitull Batraa is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Udaan E Vehicles. Before co-founding Udaan, he had worked with the Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and HMT and acquired valuable insights across diverse fields such as mechanical engineering, design and development procedures, among others. He also learnt about robotics, automation and other new-age technologies during his professional stint with these renowned organisations. All those insights are proving extremely helpful as Udaan is catalysing the EV adoption in India and becoming an instrument of change for the masses. In this interview, he shares his thoughts on very many issues: Excerpts”
What was the motivation behind creating Udaan Vehicles?
Circa 2010, there was a lot of interest coming in the E-rickshaw segment, mostly unorganised and unregistered in its usage. By 2014, the sale of e-rickshaw was banned in the country. The Government of India had to release regulations for the proper sale and use of e-rickshaws to keep it organised and safe. It was near 2016 … right after graduation … that I had decided to look at this segment as an opportunity. Also, since my father has worked in the 3W commercial vehicle industry as well, I had a lot of affiliation towards creating my own brand.
A few years ago, there was no supply chain at all for E3Ws. What did you do to overcome this problem?
Back in 2016 when the company started, its 90% dependency was on Chinese imports. Though much has improved since then with local suppliers cropping up, this remains the biggest roadblock for E3W development in the country. This industry is being taken lightly when there is a dire need to support a sound supply chain set-up for E3Ws. In India the problem is that making components also has a social status attached with it. Suppliers should look at the market size and margins and then create what is demanded of them. When we started out, even the tiniest of the changes had to be done through China. This was another challenge as these Chinese suppliers did not understand the road conditions or the driving patterns in India. Udaan is trying to solve this problem by making most of the components in-house to avoid dependency. We are creating our own supply chain, integrating them into departments and helping the end-product to be better in every way. Currently, the frame, chassis and all the body parts are being manufactured in-house. We have also started manufacturing the drivetrain, motors, controller, differential and rear axle as well. Our batteries are sourced from domestic battery manufacturers, who have been supplying very stable made-in-India batteries. So, our vehicles are 90% indigenous. The supply chain has improved considerably, we aim to reduce dependency and improve our engineering capabilities.
What kind of manufacturing and sales capabilities does Udaan have? What kind of challenges do you face penetrating new markets?
Initially when we started, we were able to produce 5-10 e-rickshaws per day. Currently, we are producing 100 units per day. Our 700 square metre facility has grown to 25,000 square metres. As the industry is increasing in sales numbers, we are trying to further expand this capacity to keep up with the market demand. Our predominant sales markets are Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi/NCR and Rajasthan. We are also present in Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Assam, Orissa, Haryana, Punjab and East India. One hurdle that we face entering new markets is the logistics. This must be sorted as it affects the acquisition cost of the vehicle. The other problem is differentiating good quality well-engineered products from the low-quality ones. We do not wish to boast the best products, but a lot of R&D goes into building our products so that they are efficient and safe. Regulatory bodies too are facing challenges in trying to stop illegal unapproved E3W usage designed by local manufacturers. Designing unregistered and unapproved e-rickshaws means the costs come down for local players. However, we have to follow strict guidelines issued by the ministry to design our products. But considering unapproved vehicles are a major threat on the roads, we believe this must be stopped and only approved vehicles must be allowed to operate.
How has R&D helped to improve your products?
Thanks to our R&D capabilities, we have been able to upgrade our products time and again. This year, we already introduced the Smart Connect feature, which is a component level self-diagnosis tool in our vehicles. The instrument cluster in Udaan vehicles displays the usual data like speed, range, battery level, etc. However, we’ve added self-diagnosis tell-tales as well in it. Any problem in the motor or controller, service reminder, overloading alerts, excessive heat generation or any other failure, it gets notified on the dashboard for the driver to take necessary steps to fix them. This helps the driver to understand the vehicle as EVs still are a new technology to wrap your head around. Udaan dealerships have these SOPs in place to explain these features to the customers at the time of vehicle delivery. This also includes user manuals in regional languages. Also, the chassis on Udaan vehicles is robust yet lightweight. The ladder-on-frame chassis makes the E3W stronger. The reduced weight also helps to improve on the range. We started off with a 900-watt motor. Currently, we are using 1200-watt motors, whilst using less current. This will provide more power with the same amount of range and efficiency.
What trends do you foresee in the upcoming E3W segment which will be beneficial to the customers?
A change in battery chemistry is a sure-shot upcoming parameter that keeps on improving the vehicles. The current lead-acid battery usage in low cost E3Ws will shift to better lithium-ion or sodium-ion batteries, which are safer and more efficient. This will help users squeeze more range, while not compromising on the safety. Another great addition to this ecosystem will be the expansion of the swappable battery set-ups for E3Ws. These will surely improve the problem of range anxiety and reduce down-time for commercial users. Yes, all these upgrades will result in the initial increase in the cost of acquisition for E3Ws, but with time these will come down. Although the government has been very supportive for EV adoption, the E3Ws segment has been ignored a bit. More support is still required to improve the penetration for last-mile connectivity. Subsidies are still required, and they must be available through an easier process. Since there are more E3Ws being sold in the commercial segment for passenger/goods transport, e-rickshaw drivers are the people who desperately need these subsidies, not personal vehicle buyers.