Italian automotive brand Piaggio could be looking at the electric version of the Porter, its four-wheel cargo mini truck, to take on the segment leader Tata Ace electric, which has been received overwhelmingly since the launch.
Following the steep rise in prices of diesel-powered mini load carriers (3- and 4-wheelers) due to the switchover to BS6, there has been a notable rush in demand for electric-powered versions of these vehicles.
Diego Graffi, Chairman and Managing Director, Piaggio India, said, “We have been playing in the mini truck segment with the Porter family. So, definitely we are evaluating the segment for electric. If we see the opportunity to enter with a competitive offering, definitely we will take that call.” Graffi was talking on the sidelines of launching the Ape NXT+, a CNG-powered three-wheeler for the passenger segment, priced at ₹2.35 lakh (ex-showroom).
Competitive space
Tata Motors received more than 40,000 bookings for the electric version of the Ace which was unveiled in May. Set to go on sale in a few weeks, the Ace EV can do a maximum of 154 km on a single charge. It has a payload capacity of 600 kg. Tata Motors is yet to announce the price of the Ace EV.
Ashok Leyland, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles and a few start-ups are also looking to enter the electric mini truck space given the assured demand from e-commerce players who are eager to reduce their carbon footprint. Tata Motors has tied up with Amazon, BigBasket, City Link, DOT, Flipkart, LetsTransport, MoEVing and Yelo EV.
“Sub-1 tonne space has become uneconomical under Bharat 6 norms. Going forward, there is a big opportunity in that space for electric. There is a huge opportunity for mini trucks not only for B2B but also B2C. We see lots of e-commerce, fleet owners who are interested in converting their fleet due to lower cost of ownership,” Graffi said.
‘More yet to come’
Piaggio was among the first companies in India to launch an electric three-wheeler. The company presently sells the Ape e-City (passenger) and the Ape e-Xtra (cargo), both three-wheelers. It aims to take the share of electric models in total sales to up to 25 per cent to 30 per cent from the current 10 per cent to 15 per cent.
“We have done investments of several crores in the last three years on EV. More is yet to come. Piaggio is one of the 20 companies that qualified for the PLI (production linked incentive) scheme. So far, we have invested ₹70-80 crore and we are yet to freeze the plan for the next three years,” Graffi added.