Rahul Sharma, the co-founder of one of India’s most successful homegrown mobile brands -- Micromax -- is venturing into the smart mobility sector with his new venture: Revolt Intellicorp Pvt. Ltd. Set up with a personal investment of Rs 400-500 crore, the firm will produce electric motorcycles and the first of its products is expected to hit the roads by June this year.
Unveiling the firm’s as yet unnamed electric vehicle, which is touted to be an artificial intelligence (AI) enabled two-wheeler with a range of 156.8 km and a top speed of 85 km per hour, Sharma said that there was a “colossal need” to turn urban commutes cleaner and sustainable.
“I’m doing my bit and I feel this is the right time for every player operating in this space to come together for the greater good of our environment. My vision is to see every household in India have access to sustainable mobility,” Sharma said. The company has a 100,000 square feet-large manufacturing facility in Manesar, Haryana, which boasts a production capacity of 120,000 vehicles for the first phase of production.
Revolt would also be setting up its own charging infrastructure, besides following a go-to-market strategy under which it will follow offline as well as online models. Sharma also said that Revolt Intellicorp’s initial goal is to acquire a double-digit market share.
Asked why he is leaving the smartphone space for mobility, he said that he was “not happy with the kind of products (electric two-wheelers) that were being produced here”.
“So, two years back, I decided to get into the industry… the idea was how can we democratise this whole space in automobiles like the way we did in mobile phones… there is an immense opportunity in this industry,” he said.
Sharma also pointed out the tepid sales in the electric vehicle segment, noting that the “the market will not change until we come out with a product which is no less or equivalent or better than a two-wheeler with an internal combustion engine (ICE)”.
This, he went on to say, was what the new company will try to do. “Our idea is to change this market drastically over a period of time. That is the whole objective, that is the whole opportunity,” Sharma declared.