Vidyut launches offline pre-owned EV sales and financing platform

The company also plans to launch an online marketplace in the next six months to reach a wider audience

Bengaluru-based electric mobility startup Vidyut is foraying into pre-owned EV sales and financing business for commercial vehicles.

It is also planning to expand its offerings to used passenger electric vehicles and two-wheelers.

Vidyut began operations in November 2021 as a commercial EV financing platform with a unique financing model where customers can buy an EV while getting the battery on a pay per km.

This reduces the overall cost of 3WEVs by 60-65 per cent, making them cheaper than ICE vehicles.

Xitij Kothi, co-founder, Vidyut said that with this initiative, the company is trying to ease EV ownership by removing residual value concerns.

Vidyut currently works with the resale of three-wheeler commercial EVs for Mahindra, Piaggio, Euler Motors, Greaves, Murugappa Group’s Montra Electric, and Altigreen. 

The latest services will be available in Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad, with expansion plans in Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, Lucknow, Agra and Kanpur in FY25.

The company also plans to launch an online marketplace in the next 6 months to reach a wider audience.

Kothi said that after three years, the residual value of EVs (commercial vehicles in their case) will come to around 50-60 per cent.

He added that they finance vehicles where they can track data on the usage and health of batteries. This helps them calculate the residual value more accurately.

“The absence of a robust resale market is one of the biggest roadblocks in the acceleration of EV adoption,” he said.

Vidyut claims its resale platform leads to 3-4 times better resale price realisation compared to the traditional second-hand dealers in the market for used EVs.

On plans for expanding to other categories like passenger electric vehicles and two-wheelers, Kothi said they are in talks with the leading original equipment makers (OEMs). 

In February, Vidyut raised $10 million in its Series A fundraise, led by 3one4 Capital.

EV cab operator BluSmart in December last year picked up a stake in lithium battery recycling company BatX Energies.

Speaking with Business Standard back then, the executives at BluSmart said the investment could help the EV cab-hailing company build a recycling ecosystem with lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery recycling startup  BatX.

Company officials said a major portion of their fleet will require battery replacement.

"We are a green company throughout. We don't want even the waste to hamper the environment. This investment is a green strategy and should help build synergy for battery recycling. The business strategy of BatX is quite impressive," a senior executive told this paper earlier this year.

BatX converts used batteries into critical materials for new batteries. The company is aiming to become a crucial supplier in the Li-ion battery supply chain.

In FY24, EV sales witnessed a robust increase of over 41 per cent, notwithstanding, the subsidy cuts and regulatory shifts.

The total EV registrations surpassed 1.6 million in this period, which is significantly higher than the previous year’s 1.1 million. 

In FY24, the e3W category demonstrated significant market penetration, achieving a 48.9 per cent share.