EXCLUSIVE: BattRE Electric Mobility Storie EPIC Electric Scooter Launch And Interview With CEO

BattRE Electric Mobility recently launched their newest electric scooter, the BattRE Storie EPIC, in India and it starts at a price of Rs 84,999. The new electric scooter is the 4th electric scooter offered from the manufacturer. 

The BattRE Storie EPIC is a simple commuter electric scooter that offers a retro-style design, with its round headlight, apron mounted indicators and sculpted body panels. It comes in 12 colour options, giving customers a wide variety of choices in terms of looks. 

It is powered by a 2.3kWh battery pack which takes 5 hours to charge. The battery pack offers a claimed range of 103km. The scooter has a 2kW motor, which offers a claimed top-speed of 65kmph. 

In terms of underpinnings, the scooter is suspended on a telescopic fork and twin shock absorbers. It rolls on 10-inch alloy wheels, with braking duties handled by drum brakes at both ends. As mentioned before, BattRE Electric Mobility currently offers 4 electric scooters including the Storie EPIC, Storie, One and Loev. 

Additionally, we also had the chance to speak with the CEO of BattRE Electric Mobility, Mr. Nishchal Chaudhary. Over their journey, subsidies like FAME 2 and the currently available Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme (EMPS) have helped greatly. When asked about the EMPS subsidy and its impact CEO of BattRE Electric Mobility  Mr. Chaudhary said ‘It has certainly helped in staying competitive’.

The Storie EPIC is just one of the many offerings the brand has planned and we can expect more electric scooters down the line. But one question that still remains when talking about the EV market’s long term picture, is if the removal of subsidies will be a problem, Mr. Chaudhary said, “Our portfolio for next 2-3 years is planned keeping no subsidies in mind…”. He also added, “any support in the form of FAME will make us more affordable and competitive.”

Subsidies are a necessity at this point of time as a means of helping electric vehicles achieve greater penetration in the market, but in the long term subsidies are not sustainable and will have to be removed one day. According to Mr. Chaudhary “I think subsidies will continue till we achieve a 30% contribution from EVs to total vehicle sales.”

Overall, the Indian Electric vehicle space has seen great growth and progress and with many Indian companies like BattRE bringing out new products, it is becoming a very dynamic market. It will be interesting to see how BattRE in the future will be able to challenge better established rivals like Hero Electric, Okinawa and iVOOMi.