Bharat Forge-backed Tork Motors, one of India’s earliest electric motorcycle manufacturers has seen a lot of evolutions since its first showcased the concept bike codenamed ‘T6X’ way back in 2016.
In fact, the company founded by Kapil Shelke (CEO), has gone through a lot of challenges and disruptions before reaching its current stage. And yet, Shelke seems to have remained focused on growing sustainably and not chasing unrealistic targets or dreams.
“We are getting a lot of inquiries from the European market for electric motorcycles,” shares Shelke. Compared to the cheap Chinese products, the Tork Kratos offers a significantly better performance, all the while being price competitive. One may even consider the fact that having a reputed brand like Bharat Forge amongst its backers is another cherry on the top. But there are challenges of setting up a base in Europe, the market being wide-spread and each country not being a large market in itself.
In the African region which is also a big motorcycle market, he believes that the price point for the export region will need to be differentiated. “Hypothetically, if we have to export, the Kratos-R will not be exported. The premium product – Kratos X – for Europe and the economical e-motorcycle to Africa will make sense.”
Hence Shelke says that at present, the focus remains on the Indian market, where the company has set various internal targets, including expanding its network to 100 cities, and manufacturing 4,000 e-motorcycles a month (achieving 80% capacity utilisation) before spreading itself too thin.
At present, Tork Motors is manufacturing 30 units per day or around 10,000 units a year at its micro-facility in Chakan, Pune, which it says can be easily scaled up as needed.
The idea is to ensure availability of the electric two-wheelers at its network as it expands geographically. Shelke believes that there is still a “trust deficit” when it comes to electric motorcycles, where the “feel and touch” for customers is necessary.
Future focus
Not many know, that Tork Motors has transitioned from being an electric powertrain company to a supplier to an electric motorcycle manufacturer. It currently supplies electric motors to 3-4 electric three-wheeler manufacturers in the country.
At present, Bharat Forge is a major investor in the company having around 60.6 percent stake. Shelke says it has already met a larger part of its funding needs. And hence has no plans to look for new investors in the near term.
The company is one of the few companies in India to have completely developed axial flux motors in-house.
There are primarily two types of motors used in an EV – axial flux and radial flux – the latter being less efficient and cheaper. On the other hand, an axial flux motor is expensive but can be made compact to offer the same performance or give higher performance in the same size.
Hence, it also is open to the idea of being a supplier of e-powertrains in non-two-wheeler segments.
When queried about the top five focus areas, Shelke says, “We are focusing on distribution, brand building, creating the ecosystem, charging, and technology.”
Shelke is also leading the Bharat Charge Alliance (BCA) an open-source interoperable charging network that aims to enable EV makers to standardise the charging infrastructure. The alliance has already joined hands with CHAdeMO Association, a Japanese alliance for DC charging network, popular in Asian countries.
He is optimistic that since leading Japanese automakers are already using the network in their home country, having them to come onboard for the same in India will proliferate the charging network and hence give more confidence to Indian EV users.
Lastly, when queried about future product pipelines and exports of e-motorcycle to countries like Africa. Shelke says, “We are fundamentally solving the issues of the Indian consumer, where the e-motorcycle is their first vehicle. We already have built an aspirational product, but we don’t want to focus beyond it. In the scooter segment, there are enough brands in the market competing with each other.”
