Taiwan firm Kymco to invest $65 million in Indian electric scooter market

Taiwanese electric scooter manufacturer Kymco on Monday announced a foray into the Indian market in partnership with local e-scooter start-up 22 Motors. 

Kymco said it would invest $65 million in the Indian market over the next three years in introducing new products and localising batteries.

Kymco, which has an annual revenue of $1.36 billion, sells 700,000 vehicles, mostly scooters, in markets like Taiwan and Europe. 

It launched electric scooters early this year in Taiwan.  

“People do not want to buy electric scooters because they worry about range anxiety, the wait time for charging and the price difference compared to petrol scooters. We have a total solution that solves all these problems,” said Allen Ko, chairman of Kymco.

The joint venture company will launch a scooter early next year that boasts of a range of 200km on one charge and a top speed of 60 km per hour. 

The Rs 74,740 scooter will have twin batteries: a core fixed battery that will keep the scooter mobile for up to 20 km when the bigger battery is being charged. 

Alternately, the 5kg-battery can also be swapped at the company’s charging points at a nominal fee of Rs 20-30. The cost of scooter includes these two batteries and a charger that can be used at home or office.  

Praveen Kharb said the company will have one charging point every km in Delhi, its first market. 

“There is no wait time. The technology will enable you to remain mobile even when the battery is being charged. We are looking at a volume of half a million scooters over next three years,” he added.