Vijayawada-based electric scooter manufacturer Avera AI Mobility Pvt. Ltd. (AAMPL) announced its plan to expand with an investment of ₹100 crore to increase production from 25,000 units per annum to 1,00,000 per annum and cater to the emerging markets in Australia, Vietnam and Sri Lanka in the immediate future and to some other countries in due course.
A pilot launch is on the cards in Australia in November, AAMPL founder-CEO Akula Venkata Ramana told media persons who were on a visit to the company’s manufacturing plant at Nunna village near the city on August 19.
The company has plans to set up manufacturing units abroad as, it said, demand for its vehicles grows steadily. For the time being, it will focus on exports and simultaneously explore the possibility of forging business-to-government partnerships.
A recent tie-up with Italian firm Frank Morini gave a big boost for the development of motors used in electric vehicles and related components such as electronic control units. It (Frank Morini) is supporting AVERA in the entire design architecture.
Mr. Venkata Ramana said AVERA was assembling batteries comprising packs of Lithium Ferrous Phosphate (LFP) cells sourced from China. These are operated with the battery management systems procured from a vendor-manufacturer in Taiwan.
Batteries made of LFP cells are suitable for Indian weather and have an impressive life span of 5-7 years. They are also easily recyclable and convenient to use. AVERA had rolled out its first products—Retrosa and Retrosa Lite—in May 2019 and a new model— Vincero—has just been released.
A five-year warranty is being given on every part of the scooters, Mr. Venkata Ramana said, while sounding optimistic about the overall cost of the vehicles coming down in the near future as greater emphasis is being laid by the Government of India to promote mobility space.
“The electric two-wheelers are going to become more affordable in the medium to long term as the demand for them is poised to increase in the coming years,” Mr. Ramana said.
