EVage eyes a first mover advantage with launch of one-tonne e-delivery van

The Mohali-based all-electric vehicle startup took nearly seven years to develop, test and validate Model X; roll out likely year-end

EVage, an all-electric vehicle startup is looking to disrupt the last mile delivery segment with the launch of its maiden one tonne delivery van by the end of the current calendar year as it seeks to tap into the demand for EVs by the e-commerce firms to plug the last mile.

The Mohali-based company that has spent close to seven years in developing, testing and validating the product will be the first to launch an all-electric vehicle developed ground-up, claimed Inderveer Singh, founder and CEO, EVage.

“EVage is the only company that has a four-wheel delivery van out on the roads in India. The fact that it is made ground up makes us even more unique. I am sure a lot of OEMs are trying this. But in my mind, that's a retrofit, it's a chassis that is already working, they're trying to replace an engine with the electric powertrain,” said Singh.

In January this year it raised $28 million in a seed funding round led by US-based venture capital firm RedBlue Capital. It’s using funds to build a factory outside Delhi, where it would make its first product codenamed Model X.

The company has completed almost all the ground trials that are needed and will be starting trial productions in the next few quarters and plans to commence commercial production by the end of this year, he said.

Commercial vehicle biggies including Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, Mahindra and Mahindra, among others have been eyeing this space and have announced product plans to tap into the segment, none of them are anywhere close to launching the product.

EVage got the first prototype ready in 2019 and spent three and a half years testing it. It has five to 10 vehicles already running out of which more than two or three vehicles have crossed 100,000 kilometers and one has already crossed 250,000 kilometers of testing without any failure, said Singh. It has been working closely with the e-commerce, FMCG, and logistics companies to understand their requirements and design the product accordingly. “For every two vehicles we are putting on the road, there’s a demand for ten,” he said.

According to Singh, the changes in the logistics and distribution network—from the earlier hub and spoke system to sorting center and from sorting centers to distribution centers and then to the last mile has been fuelling demand for delivery vehicles that are cost efficient. “It has been visible since 2016. But now, it is obvious,” he added.

Given the fact that commercial vehicles account for a third of oil consumption in India, EVs offer an attractive proposition to decarbonize and reduce costs.  These two to three tailwinds Singh the confidence to develop a delivery van and help new age logistics networks to be more efficient.

The company’s upcoming plant will be modular in nature and would be a miniature of large scale automobile plants. It won’t have assembly lines that run into kilometers. “We don't believe that we are sustainable if we deforest 1000s of acres of land to make a plant which is trying to save carbon,” said Singh.