The Delhi-based automotive tech start-up is all set to launch the production version of its electric light commercial vehicle, targeting fleet operators working for e-commerce companies in the country. The company’s uniqueness lies in its ‘full-stack’ model and tailor-made approach towards technology, as well as in-house assembly of battery packs, writes Dhiyanesh Ravichandran.
E-rickshaws are the most persuasive vestiges of a silent ‘EV revolution’ that is happening in India. In the last couple of years, these teeny battery vehicles have seen a tremendous rise in their popularity across the metro cities in the country, with an estimated 1 million e-rickshaws already plying in our city streets as on August last year! And, despite all their rough edges, these three-wheelers tend to perfectly meet the mobility requirements of the masses than any of its counterparts, to the extent that when Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos hopped on to an Amazon-branded electric delivery rickshaws to pledge his new business commitment to the Indian market, including the deployment of 10,000 such e-rickshaws in his company’s fleet of delivery vehicles by 2025!
Is it right to call these three-wheel delivery vehicles as e-rickshaws? This question aside, it is very clear that a potential market for battery-electric micro delivery vehicles is getting ready in India, thanks to the strident emergence of e-commerce businesses and their unique business-cum-logistics models extending till the last-mile of goods or service delivery. Although the e-rickshaws are predominantly successful in short-distance passenger applications so far, these trading companies are looking for similar solutions for last-mile cargo transportation as well. Those companies that are tech-savvy and cash-rich like Amazon are coming up with their own branded vehicles, while others may push their fleet operators to shift to electric delivery vehicles. Either way, the spectacle of electric delivery rickshaws driving green logistics solutions in e-commerce and the 3PL value chain is imminent.
Euler Motors – an automotive tech start-up from Delhi – aspires to stand up to the challenge. Inspired by the work done by Tesla, it is committed to mass-market adoption of reliable zero-emission last-mile logistics solutions, by adopting ‘mobility as a service’ and ‘full-stack’ approach, rather than just serving just one-stage of a larger value chain. The company has already set-out a fleet of some 140 prototype battery-electric 3-wheeled delivery vehicles that are on trial runs for over a year in the operations of companies like BigBasket, Blue Dart, Ecom Express and Udaan. Now, with further engineering developments and upgrades optimised upon learnings from the trials so far, Euler Motors is all set to launch its first product commercially in the markets across major tier 1 cities in the country.
Full-stack model
CEO and co-founder Saurav Kumar explains the rationale that goes behind his start-up. He claims it as a well-thought-out execution on a market segment that is ready for a reliable EV solution, and therefore not an experimental venture. He says, “although India has been talking about EVs for more than six years, the required traction is not found among consumers, either private or enterprise users, owing to three key apprehensions. This includes practical and technological anxieties on driving range, recharging duration, and recharging infrastructure. This calls for a whole new approach, both for the solution provider and the consumer, in churning out a sweet spot of economics working in their favour”. And hence, he adds, the thought process of Euler Motors is aligned to a full-stack model for enterprise use-case, i.e., commercial fleet operations, wherein full-utilisation of operational economics is possible and can lead to mass adoption.
By the full-stack model, he means that his company is trying to address all those three apprehensions about EVs with its complete solutions. “As we understand that fleet entrepreneurs will not adopt electric vehicles as long there exists a convincing case of support ecosystem and superior return of investments, our idea is to move beyond just making EVs. We have already established 8 charging stations in Delhi, fully-owned by us and dedicated for our customers right now. We will be opening more in the days to come, not just in Delhi but also in other cities, which will be open for other EV users as well later”, he said. Service and technical training is the next aspect, we are setting-up adequate infrastructure and manpower to offer our customers a comprehensive support system in their EV operations, he added.
Further, Kumar noted that technology is an integrated aspect of the full-stack approach. “Although BEVs have far less moving parts than a conventional vehicle, it is way too tech-savvy. Our vehicle is equipped with advanced IoT-enabled techs like thermal management system for the battery pack, vehicle or charge regulation circuit systems, telematics, GPS and so on. Vehicles are becoming more and more digitally-integrated, wherein a manufacturer must have sound software and chip-designs expertise”. He averred that right from its conception, Euler Motors concentrated its investments and energy into developing right prowess in various technologies associated with electric and connected vehicles. “This essentially includes our compact design and in-house assembly of the vehicle’s battery pack”.
He observed that the battery packs used in electric 3-wheelers in India are either designed for stationary or industrial use cases, but the automotive application has its own operational threats and vulnerabilities, may it be water leakages, damages out of vibrations or crashes, and so on. Thus, we wanted to engineer battery packs that are tailor-made for cargo haulage, which is both lightweight and fool-proof, he added.
Battery pack superiority
Euler Motors assembles its own 5.76 kWh battery pack in-house, by importing 18650 cylindrical Lithium-ion (Nickel Manganese Cobalt type) cells from premium tier-one suppliers working with leading EV makers across the globe. The pack is subjected to various testing parameters including a water-immersion test to ensure its optimum safety and efficiency. With this battery pack powering its electric delivery vehicle, the company claims a driving range of about 100 km in full charge, with an average charging duration of 3-4 hours. It is also fast-charge enabled, which means some 60-70 per cent charge can be obtained in less than 40 minutes. Four or five years is the optimum performance period for these batteries, after which its state-of-charge (SoC) comes down to 80 per cent. Even at that point, the vehicle will continue to run for some 80 km in full charge, assures the manufacturer, and the battery pack will claim a fair salvage value as it can be very well used as stationary backups in industrial or home applications.
Asked on how superior and efficient this battery system is, as against lead-acid (LA) batteries commonly used in e-rickshaws, Saurav Kumar replied, “from charging perspective, the Li batteries have optimum energy density suitable for commercial vehicle applications, which translates into reduced charging duration of 4 hours, from over 8 hours in LA batteries. Further, the Li packs have a phenomenal weight advantage – weighing just 40 kgs unlike 120-130 kgs in LA case, which translates into higher payload capacity and longer driving range. That’s why, you find e-rickshaws being built extremely light, making them frail and unsafe”. More importantly, LA is susceptible to a severe drop in voltage, which makes it unreliable for commercial applications as operators aspire for optimum up-time with their vehicles, he commented.
Way forward
As of now, Euler’s prototype vehicle boasts a payload capacity of 400-500 kgs, which is being improvised to about 600 kgs in the upcoming production version. The CEO also revealed that his company is working on a sophisticated active battery cooling system to extend its life, despite the negative effects of heat generation during fast-charge. An investment of USD 2 million has been raised from his chief investors for manufacturing and sound R&D, which has resulted in two manufacturing facilities – one at Faridabad for vehicle assembly and chassis development, and the other at Okhla dedicated to R&D and battery assembly. The company’s production capacity stands at 200 units per month, which is adequate for the market demand in the country for the next few years, according to him. “Although the e-cargo delivery vehicle market is at a nascent stage, economies of scale and technological innovation can drive cost reduction in this space”, he said, while adding that his company’s approach will set benchmarks in the electric light commercial vehicle industry.
Saurav Kumar is quite confident that he can convince fleet operators working in the e-commerce and utility sectors to embrace electric-mobility with his product. “These operators work on just-in-time delivery and TCO considerations, coupled with high predictability on the nature of operations and maximum utilisation of vehicles. They are starting to realise that their everyday savings out of operating Euler’s vehicle can lead to quick recovery of initial upfront costs, as our vehicle boasts an operating cost of just INR 0.6 per km, as against INR 2.5 per km by a similar capacity diesel vehicle. Taking lead from our positive customer feedback so far, we are determined to scale-up and grow further in this space”, he opined. To start with, Euler Motors is running behind fleet owners in those cities with favourable EV subsidy and policy support to sell volumes, after which individual entrepreneurs can be targeted.