Okinawa launches e-scooters in India

The Indian market is getting crowded with electric vehicles. Now another entrant, Okinawa Autotech Pvt. Ltd, has launched high-speed electric two-wheelers, promising to match power, speed and efficiency of traditional petrol vehicles.

Showcasing its new scooter in Delhi today, Jeetender Sharma, MD, Okinawa Scooters said, "Being an Indian company, our vision is to be a leading electric two-wheeler manufacturer by offering a solution for the daily commuting needs of the average person. We aim to empower all our stakeholders through products that add to their lifestyle without subtracting anything from the environment. By making technology and nature ride together, Okinawa is poised to revolutionise the Indian transportation space."

The company plans to invest around $30-40 million in the country by 2020 to expand operations and introduce new products, including high speed motorcycles. Its first electric scooter 'Ridge', priced at Rs 43,702 (ex-showroom Delhi), comes after a principal investment of Rs 35 crore, a large part of which was to set up operations including a manufacturing facility at Bhiwadi, Rajasthan.

Okinawa, the name derived from an Japanese island, has put up 24 dealerships in states like Haryana, Punjab, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh and, going ahead, plans to expand in smaller towns as well. "We have plans to target smaller cities and towns with our products. Our target is to have 450 dealerships across the country. In the current first phase of expansion, we are focusing on cities, followed by rural markets in the future," Sharma said.

The company also plans to come up with a new plant and roll out other models. The present manufacturing plant has an annual production capacity of 90,000 units. It also plans to launch high powered products delivering a range of 200 kms on a single charge.

Commenting on the Ridge e-scooter, which has a range of around 90 km and comes with two charging setups, Sharma added that a fast charging unit charges the battery fully in 1-2 hours while the normal one takes 4-6 hours.

Okinawa's headquarters are situated in JMD Megapolis, Sohna Road, Gurugram, and its manufacturing unit is in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan.