epluto High-Speed Electric Scooter Refuels at Just Rs 17; Hyderabad Startup’s for Better India

(L_R) Dr. Nishanth Dongari, Founder, PURE EV, Dr. V.K. Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog, Mr. Rohit Vadera, CEO, PURE EV, G. Satheesh Reddy, Chairman, DRDO, & Prof BS Murty, Director, IIT-H

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“Our batteries don’t require a 25 AMP charging socket or some additional arrangements for charging. You can charge it in any 10 Amp or 15 Amp household socket.”

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While most original equipment manufacturers (OEM) in the electric vehicle space are resorting to either acquiring their batteries from a third party at home or importing from abroad, PURE EV, the IIT-Hyderabad incubated startup, is designing and manufacturing both its vehicles and batteries.

Last Sunday, the Hyderabad based startup launched its high speed electric scooter EPluto 7G, which has an International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT)-certified range of 116 km on a single charge and comes with a patented battery technology.

With an ex-showroom price of Rs 79,999, the vehicle can attain a top speed of 60 kmph and reach 0-40 kmph in less than 5 seconds. Powered by a 2.5 KWH lithium battery pack, it takes nearly four hours for the vehicle to charge completely. Consuming just 2.5 units of electricity, the cost of refueling stands at a measly Rs 15-17 per charge. Both the battery and the vehicle have been designed and developed factoring in Indian terrain and weather conditions.

“Our batteries are portable, swappable and easy to charge. Everyday tests are being run to ensure their reliability and ability to function in local conditions. The batteries are designed to endure the harsh environmental conditions in India. Our batteries don’t require a 25 AMP charging socket or some additional arrangements for charging. You can charge it in any 10 Amp or 15 Amp household socket,” says Gaargi Pachal, Executive Assistant to MD and CEO at PURE EV, speaking to The Better India.

To further their vision of an EV-dominated market, PURE EV has established a 40,000-sqft state-of-the-art facility, co-located with IIT-Hyderabad, for cutting-edge research and development as well as for large scale production of electric vehicles and electric batteries.

At present, it has a manufacturing capacity of 2000 units per month and the startup aims to deploy over 10,000 electric vehicles on the road during the current calendar year.

“E-mobility is an upcoming sector, and one of the most disruptive one. We are not only looking at the vehicular aspect but also the supply chain. The value addition being done is very high by the startup. I feel very proud of the product’s launch as I have been part of their journey since the early days.” says Dr. V.K. Saraswat, Member of NITI Aayog.

It’s a sentiment that Dr Nishanth Dongari, the Founder of PURE EV, shares.

“The launch of this scooter is a significant achievement for the company and the range test results are a demonstration of our strength in the battery technology. We have state-of-the-art facilities for the Assembly and Testing of the Lithium Battery Packs. The core R&D activities of the company are aligned keeping in mind the emerging challenges and requirements of the industry,” he says.

However, one of the most positive facets of this startup is how it has managed to seamlessly merge academia and entrepreneurship to develop a genuine product for the Indian market.