Altigreen, a Reliance-backed company with a decade of experience, will debut in the passenger electric three-wheeler segment next month and is considering entering the commercial electric four-wheeler market in FY25.
Originally, Altigreen was conceived as an organisation that would design, develop, manufacture, and supply specific electric vehicle components to other original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Debashish Mitra, Director of Sales & Marketing at Altigreen, explained in a conversation with Electronics For You that the startup had sent out specific components and drivetrains to electric two-wheeler, three-wheeler, and four-wheeler OEMs.
“The growth in that segment seemed very slow, and we decided to pivot into manufacturing electric three-wheeler vehicles,” he says.
Backed by Reliance, the 10-year-old company chose to venture into the electric three-wheeler (E3W) space, as it feels that this segment is best suited to help Indians experience electric mobility. Selling E3Ws since 2022, Altigreen retailed over 2,100 cargo E3Ws last fiscal.
Next on the company’s list is the launch of a passenger E3W named RAHI. Mitra confirmed that the homologation and certification of the new vehicle are almost done and it is scheduled for launch next month.
“We aim to retail the same in the semi-urban and semi-rural parts of the country. Altigreen will be the first to deploy and sell passenger E3Ws in these geographies,” Mitra claims. The company is also looking to “at least double” its dealerships from 31, before the end of this fiscal. Most of the new dealerships will be opened in the locations Mitra mentioned above.
Mitra shared the company’s sales targets: “We will close FY24 with 10,000 plus E3W sales. About 20% of these will be from the passenger segment, and the majority from the commercial cargo segment.” Passenger variant RAHI E3W is expected to have a range of 120km, a battery warranty of 3 years/100,000km, with the capacity of its battery being charged from 0 to 100% in around 3.5 hours.
Also on the cards for the company is the launch of two new E3Ws in the commercial segment before the end of this calendar year. There is a strong possibility that these two new offerings will be placed below the already available neEV Tez, powered by Exponent’s 15-minute charging tech.
Mitra adds that the company acquired over 11% share in the L5 E3W category in India during the last fiscal year. Regarding overall adoption, the L5 category saw 1% adoption of E3Ws in 2021, 6% in 2022, and over 18% in 2023. Compared month-on-month, the category witnessed a 24% E3W adoption in July 2023 and over 21% adoption during the first quarter of the current fiscal.
Altigreen’s current supplier base stands at 200+, and Mitra believes that with the launch and development of new products this base will keep increasing over time. The company might also foray into the commercial electric four-wheeler segment in FY25. It can currently manufacture 55,000 E3Ws at its facility in Bengaluru.
