Bharat Forge-backed electric mobility start-up Tork Motors has revealed its intentions to ramp up their production of its electric motorcycles through a green field mini-factory, which is set to come on stream in the next couple of months.
India’s electric two-wheeler space is dominated by scooters but Tork, founded in 2016, is one of the few companies engaged in making electric motorcycles.
The Pune-based firm started with the sale of a little over 200 units of the Kratros model in Pune and aims at starting sales in Mumbai and Hyderabad this month, a top company official said.
Tork Motors founder and CEO Kapil Shelke said, “From 300-400 units a month, we are moving to produce 4,000-5,000 units a month. Our investors, Bharat Forge, have invested in a new factory located at Chakan (near Pune) and they will contract manufacture for us. The new facility will go live in December or January.”
Bharat Forge owns a 60% stake in Tork Motors while the rest is held by the promoters, angel investors and ESOPs.
Since the Kratos model of the firm is priced more than double the price of a 100cc petrol bike, the target market for electric bikes has been kept limited.
Tork does not intend to have widespread distribution of its Kratos model, instead focusing on select markets.
The model is priced at ₹1.22 lakh while the Kratos R model costs ₹1.37 lakh, post subsidies. The bikes have a maximum speed of 105km/hr, a range of 180km on a full charge and a 4-5-hour charging time.
“We are in the premium category and we need not be omnipresent throughout India. We have a set target of say 130-180 cities, depending on how fast we scale up in 18-24 months. The number of cities we want to enter is limited,” Shelke added.
While Tork’s planned production capacity for the new factory pales in comparison to some of the capacities announced by other electric two-wheeler manufacturers, according to Shelke, the “mini factory” will house most of the components required for production.
“We don’t outsource parts. For instance, the motor and the battery are built at the factory. Revenue and delivery time can be optimized and we can adapt to changes faster in such a setup. It is a 50,000 sqft factory set up in 6-8 months and we can have a new one set up in 3 months,” Shelke added.