TI Clean Mobility (TICM), a subsidiary of Tube Investments of India (TII) of the Murugappa Group, which recently launched its three-wheeler electric auto rickshaw - Montra Electric 3W - aims to increase its distribution network and dealers to 100 locations by the end of 2022.

The company plans to have a dealership network across South India and then expand the network to North.

“Our focus will be to penetrate and start with the South Indian market covering Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and then move forward to the rest of the country. We will have exclusive dealership networks that will be the same business model for the North Indian market as well,” Arun Murugappan, Executive Chairman, Tube Investments of India, told businessline. TII had first introduced electric scooters in 2008 and later discontinued them owing to slow growth. The company does not plan to reintroduce electric two or four-wheelers. “ Nothing had evolved in the electric vehicle market in 2008. Even now the electric vehicle segment is at a very nascent stage and we will not be getting into electric two-wheelers and four-wheelers as there are many players and it is crowded,” said Murugappan. 

A team of 70 members is working on the development of electric vehicle products. TI Clean Mobility will soon introduce electric heavy trucks and electric tractors after the company acquired Cellestial E-Mobility Pvt Ltd and IPLTech Electric.

“We have started with the electric three-wheeler passenger and cargo and will introduce two more platforms: electric tractors that are under homologation and will shortly introduce electric heavy trucks that are homologated as we have acquired IPLTech,” he said.

In talks for charging units

Charging facilities for electric vehicles continue to pose a major hurdle to the success of the electric vehicle market. TI is in talks with charging station partners to provide easy charging of vehicle batteries to its customers.

“The charging infrastructure is at a very nascent stage in India and we are in talks with firms who provide charging stations and battery swapping. The company is also looking into the battery as a service kind of a business model,” he said.

With global warming being a rising concern electric vehicles will expand in the commercial vehicle segment in the next 10 years.

“The push is towards green emission and the industry is moving towards it but it is still in a nascent stage,” he added.

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