Kinetic Green to invest Rs 300 crore in EV biz, gets working on reborn Luna

Kinetic Green’s Sulajja Firodia Motwani: “We have just signed a very aggressive plan to invest around Rs 300 crore in the next 3-4 years.”

Kinetic Green Energy and Power Solutions, the electric vehicle manufacturing arm of the Kinetic Group, is determined to play a bigger role in the “last-mile mobility for people and goods,” says Sulajja Firodia Motwani, co-founder and CEO, Kinetic Green and vice-chairperson of the Kinetic Group.

Kinetic Green, which manufactures electric three-wheelers for cargo applications, has sold more than 30,000 vehicles till date. In terms of revenue, the company has a cumulative topline of Rs 350 crore.  

Speaking to Autocar Professional recently, Ms Motwnai said: “Last year, we had a sales decline because of the Covid-19 situation but are targeting Rs 200 crore topline this fiscal. Our revenues have been around Rs 70-100 crore for the last 3-4 years. We are now in an acceleration phase and see the market as a multi-thousand crore opportunity. We have already invested around Rs 100 crore in Kinetic Green. The promoters have invested around Rs 50-60 crore in equity and Rs 40 crore in other forms of financing. But now we have just signed a very aggressive plan to invest around Rs 300 crore in the next 3-4 years through promoter and Series A funding. We intend to complete the Series A funding in the next 12 months,” she affirms.

The Kinetic Safar Star (top) and Safar Jumbo electric three-wheelers.

Kinetic Green aims to ride the e-commerce and home delivery boom in India with its Safar Star and  Safar Jumbo electric three-wheelers, launched in October 2019 and October 2020 respectively.

The Kinetic Safar Star (top), which has a maximum speed of 40kph and features an advanced lithium-ion 48 V battery with 150 AH power, has a driving range up to 130km per charge. Designed for day-long deliveries, it also has a swappable battery option.

The Kinetic Safar Jumbo, which has a GVW of over 1 ton, a cargo box with 150 square feet cubic capacity and 500kg payload, is equipped with an advanced lithium-ion battery pack designed to give a range of 120km on a single charge.

Luna revival in electric form l
Interestingly, while the market for electric three-wheelers in India is notching speedy growth, thanks to interest from e-commerce and last-mile delivery companies, Ms Motwani agrees that “the electric two-wheeler space is beginning to look exciting and will accelerate from here onwards.”

While the Kinetic Group moved out of the two-wheeler market decades ago, it may be recollected that Kinetic was once a top-of-mind brand when it came to motoring on two wheels.

When queried about the potential for the revival of the iconic Luna brand, Ms Motwani says, “I can neither confirm nor deny anything about our efforts in this direction. Kinetic has always been out there amongst the top brands given that we created life-changing products like the Kinetic Honda and Luna that were category creators. The brand was always iconic. Interestingly, there is a lot of buzz in the market about the electric Luna. Because of the iconic status of the Kinetic brand, it remains fairly on top-of-recall for the customer. The electric two-wheeler space is beginning to look exciting and will accelerate from here onwards. From an industry perspective, the tide is now turning rapidly for e-two-wheelers.”

It is learnt that the company is in advanced stages for making an official announcement in a month or two about entering the electric two-wheeler space, thus reviving the ‘Luna’ in its electric avatar.

What gives affirmation to the e-Luna project is that, on August 13, Arun Firodia, Chairman of the Kinetic Group, confirmed the news while speaking to a television news channel. And Kinetic Group MD, Ajinkya Firodia also revealed the news on his social media handles.