Electric two-wheeler (E2W) maker Okinawa Scooters on Thursday said it has received regulatory approvals for two models, making it eligible to receive incentives under the government’s FAME-II (Faster Adoption of Manufacture of (Hybrid and) Electric Vehicles) scheme. Jeetender Sharma, founder and managing director of Okinawa Scooters, talks about the importance of this approval, his target for FY 2020, infrastructure availability and more. Excerpts:
How important is it for you to become eligible for FAME-II approval and the incentivisation on your electric two-wheelers? In which ways will it boost demand for your scooters?
The approval is quite significant for an electric two-wheeler manufacturer as well as the end consumer. From an E2W maker’s perspective, the FAME-II approval certifies that the government has approved a best-in-class product with good performance for the Indian consumers; it means that that the manufacturer has met its set parameters of 50 per cent localisation, range of 80km/charge, 40 km/h, etc. From a consumer perspective, FAME-II approval allows the end-user to avail government subsidy on electric vehicles (For Okinawa Ridge+ & i-Praise, the subsidy would be between `17,000 and `26,000, based on KWH).
Electric Vehicle sales dropped significantly in April. What were the reasons? Do you expect a pick-up in sales in the near future?
A number of products haven’t received FAME-II approval from the government, which somewhere has impacted the sale of Li-ion (lithium ion) products in April. However, this did not impact us, since our lead acid products met the customers’ requirements in terms of pricing and performance.
How was FY 2018-19 for Okinawa Scooters, and what are your expectations for the ongoing financial year? Also, what is your current market share and what are you aiming for by the end of this fiscal?
In financial year 2018-2019, Okinawa sold 45,000 units of both lead acid and Li-ion products. And in FY 2019-20, we aim to sell 1 lakh units.
A lot of new players are entering the E2W segment. What does it mean for the industry?
Many players entering the EV market shows the scope of electric in the future. The contribution of many new players to the EV industry is opening up the market with many options for end-users. This is good, from an industry perspective. The more the number of players, the more the buying options as well as comparison. Ultimately, the end-user will select the best product.
Is the infrastructure for supporting the EV ecosystem still too nascent?
Yes, from a broader perspective, the EV ecosystem is at a nascent stage. To support this ecosystem at an initial stage, Okinawa Scooters has already worked on the detachable Li-ion battery in their flagship models Ridge+ and i-Praise, which allows the user to take out the battery and charge it anytime, anywhere, akin to a mobile phone.