Electric vehicles are gaining momentum, and the latest to join the league of EVs in India is Bounce. Many are familiar with Bounce, a scooter rental platform popular in Bangalore, where one can rent a scooter and drop it off anywhere. With electric vehicles gaining momentum, Bounce decided to convert some vehicles in its fleet to electric vehicles. This in turn, prompted Bounce to launch its own electric scooter, the Infinity E1, in India.
For those who are unaware, Bounce bought the now-defunct 22Kymco, and the scooter, in essence, is the 22Kymco i-Flow. Priced at ₹68,999, the Infinity E1 offers a range of 85 km, making it one of the most affordable electric scooters in India. This coupled with the ability to swap batteries and remove them to charge it, makes the Bounce Infinity E1 sensible too. To know more about the swappable battery module, we spoke to Anil Giri Raju, the Co-founder and COO of Bounce.
“If you buy the scooter with the battery, you can opt for the subscription plans, but it is not mandatory,” said Anil. He added, “The batteries are portable, you can carry it home and charge, eliminating the need to park next to a charging spot. We are also working on having people to assist with the battery swaps, for example at petrol stations, where someone can help swap the battery for you.” Anil, further adds that the batteries have a life of 1400 charge cycles.
Speaking about the percentage of localisation, Bounce claims that the scooters are made in India. Anil said, “We source most of the parts locally, but some elements such as Lithium is not available in India. We still manage to source them from local manufacturers. The battery packs and the configuration are made in India.” Bounce has a manufacturing plant in Rajasthan with a capacity to make 1.8 lakh units per year. “Overall, around 80% of our manufacturing is localised,” adds Anil.
Also, commenting about the semiconductor shortage, Anil says that automakers can plan it better, and so has Bounce. “Since we have been working on this project for a while now, Bounce has placed enough orders for chips. We think that we have done enough to ensure deliveries go according to plan, and we are committed to starting deliveries by March,” said Anil.
“The objective of Bounce was to make mobility a fundamental right. The first solution we came up with was to enable one vehicle to be used by multiple users through our rental platform. Next was to launch an electric vehicle that was sustainable and affordable. Now we are looking at converting existing petrol scooters to EVs with the help of the same batteries via retro-fit solutions. Through these, customers will find the same benefits as our electric scooters,” added Anil, speaking of how Bounce’s journey and what lays ahead for the company.