Japan's Terra Motors launches new e-rickshaws

Terra Motors, a Japanese electric vehicle maker, expanded its electric rickshaw offering with an aim to sell 30,000 units by year end. The company, which globally clocks annual revenue of Rs 600 crore, today launched a new rickshaw priced at Rs 1,30,000 for the Indian market. The company plans to invest $5 million to expand manufacturing capacity in Gurgaon from the current 24,000 units a year to 36,000 units later this year.

The company also introduced batteries for e-rickshaws at a price of Rs 27,000. "India is the second largest producer of three-wheelers in the world. Hence, India is an important market for us. We plan to sell 30,000 units of e-rickshaws and 20,000 sets of Terra batteries by the end of this year," Terra Motors Country Director Teppei Seki said.

Seki said the e-rickshaws are being manufactured with a high localisation of 95 per cent. These e-rickshaws are being pitched as a competition to the three wheeler rickshaws that run on compressed natural gas. The company has already invested around $2 million since launching operations in India two years ago. The company started retailing e-rickshaws from August last year and has already sold around 3,500 units.