Recently, we interacted with Mr. Dinesh Arjun, CEO & Co-founder of Raptee – a new-age automobile company that aims to redefine electric mobility in India.
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Here are the interview highlights:
Tell us about Raptee and what inspired you to build the company
Raptee is a full stack electric motorcycle startup with a very strong technical moat. The company is founded by four engineers from Chennai (Ex Tesla, Wipro, Royal Enfield), working on bringing a no-compromise electric motorcycle to an otherwise scooter-only EV market. We at Raptee are driven by an innovative spirit to redefine electric mobility. Our motorcycles are intuitive and engineered to outperform conventionally powered vehicles – proving that switching to electric is not a sacrifice. They are intelligent, powerful, energy-efficient and loaded with cutting-edge technology to augment every single ride you take. When the concept of Raptee was initially coined in 2019, the sole intention was to build a motorcycle that was effortless. Reminiscing, though we may not have known how this would pan out back in the day, we did see that we wanted to make a difference. A difference that transforms the contemporary concept of motorcycling in today’s time. A change that inexorably ties innovation and sustainability together. More importantly, we wanted to bring sustainable mobility to the masses and this was only going to happen with true innovation in the e2W space.
Mr. Dinesh Arjun, CEO & Co-founder of Raptee
How you see FAME subsidy reduction will affect the EV industry
Although subsidies in the initial phase would help accelerate the adoption, it is essential that every business finds its own way to provide value to its customers, which could help significantly in the long run. In my view, no industry can endure for an extended period of time by relying just on subsidies. However, abrupt reductions of higher magnitude could be detrimental to the existing level of performance which is just settling in. In addition, such a price hike would be challenging to explain from a consumer point of view, and it would take a great deal of time for the EV market to absorb the impact. Nonetheless, despite the fact that it may look like a less substantial incentive, we endorse the government’s current strategy of extending the Fame 2 support to as many vehicles as possible from the funds available.
What tech-enabled differentiation do you plan to bring to Raptee Motorcycles
CCS2: It’s no secret that we still have a developing charging infrastructure in India. The kind of charging points available to the public in our country are solely CCS2 charging systems that are not compatible with a wide range of EVs available in the market. Due to a lack of compatibility with public charging points, current EVs don’t have alternatives other than charging at home. Having the largest two-wheeler market in the world, we believe that the transition to EVs shouldn’t be slowed down by compatibility issues.
We at Raptee strive to improve mobility for the optimal city drive. Today we are the only electric 2W company whose port is CCS2 compatible with the public charging infrastructure. It can also be charged at home from 0–80% within 45 mins. The EVs are no longer a sacrifice, nor are they boring. The EVs of today are simply innovative, intelligent, and efficient.
Low Maintenance: Our teams have put their best foot forward to engineer the most efficient yet hassle-free EV ever. Our hubless rear wheels are designed to optimize structural strength with the rear pulley mounted on spokes improving the overall efficiency of the motorcycle. They are deployed with extremely robust belts that require fairly less maintenance, unlike chain belts that require frequent cleaning & lubrication. We are more than just an EV motorcycle. We are highly efficient & eco-friendly.
How IOT & patents are being utilised in the motorcycle?
We at Raptee are reimagining the powertrain on e2Ws. We are developing the first High Voltage drivetrain for electric two wheelers. This means a lot of the tech stack, both hardware and software, had to be designed and developed in house. We have a little over 40 pieces of IP covering various sub components on the motorcycle and this is constantly growing. Since our differentiator is at an architectural level, we’ve been able to build a comprehensive patent portfolio of 31 thereby creating a strong moat for Raptee.
IOT/smart tech has been extensively used along with emobility. True to our vision of revolutionizing personal commuting, we wanted to understand how we could use this shift to electric as an enabler for smarter mobility. How can the vehicle you drive add value to your everyday life? This has been one of our biggest focus areas and our teams have been working to make our vehicles nothing less than datacenters on wheels, so to speak. Our vehicles have the capability and the hardware (dedicated onboard data processing and neural engine cores) that help the motorcycle learn from its mistakes and from its peers to make your experience better one ride at a time.
What are your growth plans?
2023 will be the year of launch for Raptee starting with our premium motorcycle that will be pitted against the 250cc motorcycles in the market.
Our production plant has just broken ground and will start rolling out motorcycles by the end of the year. Our first facility will have a peak production capacity of 108000 units a year. This will help us hit the road running and deliver our motorcycles, keeping in mind the aggressive delivery schedule we have. We are also working with the state government for a larger facility that will break ground in 2025 to help with further expansion.
Meanwhile, our team is also growing. We are continuously improving our R&D capabilities while we setup our manufacturing. We hope to be a team of 220 from the current strength of 40 by the end of the year.
How do you foresee India’s EV industry in the next 10yrs?
I’m extremely bullish about the adoption of EVs in India across segments. 10 years is a long time and I believe we would be far ahead of western markets much before the 10 year mark. As an overall experience, I believe EVs make more sense for the Indian context. Not just from a sustainability and total cost of ownership context but also from the ride, drivability and the nature of trips/rides in India. Organic growth of EV adoption has already started in the 4W space (Relative to the awareness in the market, adoption is extremely high). This is because products have matured in the e4W space. E2W adoption has been driven by subsidies so far. With the reduction of subsidies, we will see a lot more product innovation and standardisation that would drive more organic adoption.
