Voltro sees traction for electric cycles in small towns, eyes Rs 10 cr sales by March

New Delhi: Electric cycle startup Voltro Motors is seeing demand for electric cycles picking up in small towns with the market opening up post easing of COVID-19 restrictions and expects to generate sales of around Rs 10 crore this fiscal, a senior company official said on Saturday.

The startup has appointed channel partners for North East, Mumbai, Alwar, Bengaluru and even in small towns of Bihar like Lakhisari, Samastipur etc, Voltro Motors founder and Director Prashanta said.

”The business could not pick up initially because of a sudden lockdown but now demand has started coming from places which we could not imagine earlier. From the demand for Voltro electric cycles I am convinced that it is going to be a vehicle of social change and we are looking for appointing dealers and distributors in small towns,” he said.

The company commenced operations in August 2020 and completed the first financial year with Rs 35 lakh turnover.

”If the situation remains normal, then at a conservative estimate we should be able to close our first full financial year of operations with sales of around Rs 8-10 crore. We are selling online as well and creating bandwidth to meet the target. People are looking for financing options. Right now we have only Bajaj Finance as our partner for finance. We are in talks with some banks. Once that option opens up then we expect a massive surge in sales,” Prashanta said.

The company claims that its electric cycle priced at around Rs 35,000 a unit gives mileage of 75-100 kilometres on a full charge and can travel with a top speed of 25 kilometres per hour.

”Voltro electric cycles consume 700 watts of power which is less than 1 unit. It can be charged in 3 hours. The cost of full charge comes to an average of Rs 4 which can vary from state to state but this is one of the reasons that we are seeing demand from small towns. Some of our customers, mainly in Bihar, are also taking dealerships,” Prashanta said.

He said that most of the parts of the electric cycle can be repaired and replaced locally including the battery.

”If there is a problem in the controller and motor within the one-year warranty period, we replace the entire cycle. Therefore, we do not need to do anything significant for providing technical support to our channel partners. We are also preparing to start shipping our cycles to South Africa within a month,” Prashanta said.

The company is expanding its factory in Delhi to scale up production from 400 units per month to 1,000-1,500 units by the end of the current financial year.

”We have finalised an area of 17,000 square feet at Najafgarh in addition to our existing plant at Dwarka. We intend to increase the manpower by about 20 more people and start three more assembly lines. We will commence operation at the new facility from next month,” Prashanta said.