Ahmedabad-based start-up, Matter aims to raise $70 million (Rs 577 crore) in a mix of equity and debt to fund its future growth, given the strong bookings.
Interestingly its offering, Aera, the country’s first geared electric motorcycle, has got over 40,000 bookings already. At present, the company says it can produce around 60,000 units per annum at its facility. “We are on track for deliveries in September and will very shortly begin test rides for people who have prebooked and from there on you know it will start opening up to the general population. The customers who have prebooked will definitely get first-priority access,” said Mohal Lalbhai, Founder & CEO, Matter.
He is confident that despite the price revision of Rs 30,000 due to the revision in FAME 2 subsidy, the electric motorcycle will definitely find customers who understand the TCO benefit to go ahead with their decision.
Lalbhai pointed out that the electric vehicle industry was already preparing for a future without FAME 2 subsidy, and the revision in the budget will just have a short-term impact but is unlikely to lead to any major changes for serious players, “Anyone would like to make sure that they get the most benefit out of it (read FAME 2 subsidies), but we are also very cognizant of the fact that subsidy in perpetuity does not make sense to anyone.”
Investments and supply chain
Till date, Matter has invested over $25 million (Rs 206 crore) towards developing its battery technology and the electric motorcycle. While the e-motorcycle deliveries will begin soon, it has already got a strong response for its battery technology for energy storage applications.
Lalbhai added that apart from cell, magnets and semiconductors, everything is being sourced locally by Matter. In fact, with over 400 people purely working on R&D at Matter, 95 percent of all components uses have been designed in-house. The start-up is working with leading suppliers to bring down costs , “We are able to have complete control over how the pricing is to be targeted and what are the feature benefits for a price point. We get all the components outsourced to people who understand making them at scale and then we get them manufactured from them.” Matter will undertake the final assembly and deliver the e-motorcycles.
Aera variants
Unlike most electric vehicles sold in the market, Matter has taken a different approach to have a gear over a gearless experience.
Lalbhai says the idea is to provide control to the rider since historically a motorcycle has focussed on a different usage than scooters.
“If I ride the motorcycle at 3rd gear, and want to drive it that way, the motor will not get stalled. But when I want to increase that efficiency level further is when I have the ability to change gears and more. Fundamentally, because of the larger wheels and the form factor motorcycle can travel on even rougher terrains. The minute you start going out of urban centres, larger wheels really help. Larger wheels are easier to travel on rougher terrain, and the minute you’re on rougher terrain, if you do not have control over the powertrain, you might not get the torque required,” he explains.
The e-motorcycle will also provide feedback or suggest gear changes to the user to ensure higher efficiency. “Whether you choose to do it or not is your call, but the vehicle is always going to try and provide you information because the vehicle understands if you’re in eco mode, you’re gunning for range, and when in sports you want more power.”
Furthermore, to reach and meet the requirements of different users, the company plans to introduce variants for the Aera e-motorcycle across various price points.
When asked about plans to enter the four-wheeler space, Lalbhai said “I think there is enough and more that work still needs to be done in the two-wheeler space and to really make an impact in the developing world, we really need to start focusing on volume and that is where for the foreseeable future, Matter is going to be focused on.”
