Exclusive - OPG Mobility's Anshul Gupta Talks EV Future, Charging Infra and IPO Roadmap

The electric two-wheeler segment has multiple players and is experiencing rapid growth in India. The evolving policy landscape, development of infrastructure, and increasing model variety and affordability continue to shape the electric mobility future. One of the emerging automakers in the EV space is OPG Mobility, formerly known as Okaya EV, providing electric mobility solutions to customers.

Republic Auto spoke to the Managing Director at OPG Mobility, Anshul Gupta, to understand how the EV two-wheeler industry is growing, especially when the government is focusing on EV infrastructure for two-wheelers, Make-in-India, a roadmap for IPO and the penetration of EV across various tier 1, tier 2, and more.

Here are the edited excerpts from the exclusive interaction.

Agrawal: How many products do you have currently, and are you completely 100% manufacturing in India, or are you importing some parts from outside and then assembling them in India?

Gupta: So, we are doing approximately 5 models of 2 wheelers, considering low-speed and high-speed modes, i.e. 2 wheelers, scooters and motorcycles. That is the number of Ferrato portfolios under the OPG mobility flagship brand. Then on the OTTOPG front, which is a 3-wheeler brand, we have 4 L3 vehicles, which are 4 different models, 3 L5 cargo models and 2 passenger models.

Now, what is being done in-house and in India is approximately 84% the leaving aside lithium-ion cells, which come from outside for everybody. Leaving aside that, all the other items, whether it's the battery manufacturing, wire harness, plastic parts, be it motors, or controllers, all of these items are made in-house or from a local party that is making them in-house.

So, the critical idea was to be FAME compliant at that time and EMPS compliant, while whatever price benefit we can pass on to the customers by availing these schemes and making a sustainable business. So, that's been the strategy thus far, and we have been able to mobilise pretty much everything except lithium-ion cells.

Agrawal: Since you are developing your battery cells in the EV space, what about the EV charging infrastructure for the two-wheeler side? For the four-wheelers, the government is pushing hard with bigger brands, and everyone is coming and developing EV chargers for four-wheelers. What about the EV scooters?

Gupta: Yeah, so that's what I see happening. Number one, they have the possibility of a charging network, which is already installed either by private or by EV companies. So, when you talk about two-wheeler charging space, a lot of OEMS have set up their own network, and some of them have opened it up for the public also for other users to also integrate on their network. So, I think that's a good step that they are going to take.

Second, I find that we have developed chargers since we supply AC. We started as a charging manufacturing and battery company for the EV space itself. So, we have supplied around I think around 5000-6000 or 4000 DC chargers across India, which is around 40-45 per cent market share of the DC chargers.

Then the AC chargers, I would say the stand-alone public charging infrastructure that is installed on AC from our side would be close to 5000-6000 or at least give or take. So, these two-wheeler chargers, which were developed by the government for the AC001 specification, the charger that comes on the scooter can be used to plug it in and charge. So, it's a socket-based charger; you can get the socket in, and you can charge.

For example, one of our products, which we are going to launch in this calendar year, is going to have a DC fast charger that can be used for two-wheeler applications. So, there are things that OEMs will do. There are things that the charging station companies need to do. There are things that the government is doing. So, all three, when they come together in a product and the ecosystem is supporting it, I think that's when the entire problem gets solved.

However, knowing certain industry data also as I believe, as per the research we have done of our own companies, and also what I know is average run is around 50km per charge per user daily. That's the daily average. So, each of the batteries that comes in E2C applications should get an even FAME subsidy, which is around 80km per charge. That's only when you get the FAME subsidy.

What do I see in the future? Happening in the future in India is exponentially faster than ever before. So, the future can happen in 3 months once on 3 years. So, what I see is that retail shops, landowners would be putting up private charging stations either buying directly from the manufacturers or some sort of a tie-up where they will be opening their chargers to general public to charge on a slow AC platform which it will take 2-3 hours to charge sufficiently up to 100%. Then you have these 3.3kW AC fast chargers, which are installed, and with those fast chargers, within 30 minutes, you can get a full scooter to charge for full range capability.

A lot of the products are going to come with that inter-compatibility of AC fast charging. So, we are also doing that. So, I'll offlink, for example, 2-wheelers and 3-wheelers charging stations can be commonised. So, use the 3.3kW AC fast charger, which can charge a 2-wheeler and a 3-wheeler also for that quick charge-up, and that will be done in the public infrastructure. So, a lot of the real estate companies from private landowners, OEMs, their distribution, everything is going to come together and then range exactly will be a thing of the past. Starting with Metro and then Tier 2, Tier 3, Tier 4, and so on.

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Agrawal: Since OPG Mobility has been in the start-up space since 2019, how do you see the competition? As the other brands offer features, technology, advanced charging systems, better range and everything. What are the differentiating factors for a person to opt for an OPG Mobility and not go for a well-established brand?

Gupta: Every brand has a customer base, and every customer base has a specific need. So, what we are doing at OPG Mobility, while features, performance, and quality have to be table stakes. So, for us to exist and be of any help to the consumer, we need to have all of the things that are being done by the competitors to be a table stake.

So, for example, if you are talking about features, we have the intact charging stations, touch screen, payment system, gateway, and everything is stock. Now we have around 10-15,000 DC and AC chargers in the public system that are involved. Managing the ABI, getting the tubing system across, and getting a third-party application to integrate.

All of these things we have been using since 2000. That's the software. When you go on to the manufacturing side, coming from a Microtek background, coming from a car, a factory-based industry, in a service-oriented country, manufacturing and staff services, all other businesses as well.

Now, coming to the third, to the entire design capability and features and everything that we have to offer. So, our product lineups, we have showcased that it is not that, for example, in our latest product also, which is the F22, what we have done is, it's a in-house TFT screen, touch screen capable display which you get a lot of features, whether it's IoT connectivity, that screen mirroring, which is the first in the industry. IP67 protection, IP67 chargers, motors, performing, everything.

The core purpose of why we started the business in the EV sector was because we were cautious of the incidents that were happening around the industry. So, we have chosen a particular technology, which is LFP, which is safe. All of the global companies, when they are entering into India or a very hot climatic region, are opting for LFP, even Tesla.

On the other side, the after-sales support is something that we are heavily planning on. In this industry, you cannot just have a great product, well-marketed, and great marketing, and sell it to competitors. So, all of those things are planned. At the end of the day, we have seen it in our Microtek experience also that when we started Microtek, we were not the first ones. We were probably 100th when we started. So, it's the marathon that the company has to take, a path that the company has to follow.

Keep tweaking the products and improving the service, and improving the reliability. There are more than 300 manufacturers, but the consolidation is happening. Now, how we react to the consolidation, how we bounce back up and make our consolidation of the industry consolidation that is happening around we can come up at the top. I'm not saying 1, 2, 3, but top 5 is where I believe it takes one product to click.

Agrawal: What happens to the batteries that are completely drained and used up? For example, if a buyer gets a scooter today and after 6-7 years of usage, the battery is completely drained. So, how do you see that, and how is the recycling happening in this battery manufacturing line?

Gupta: So, in general, in EV applications, what we end up using is a high-discharge-rate cell application. What it means is that they can take high current and the current that charges faster. These are high-rate cells. So, when these batteries go out of use or they are completely discharged, I won't say completely discharged, they have a certain voltage, they can be revived for a second life, which is usually some sort of stationary-based application where there is a slow discharge current taking capacity and discharge capacity.

So, that is the second where they get put to use in the second use of the application. Once it has gone through that cycle also then it gets recycled. So, in recycling, there are companies that have come up in India. They have started taking EV-grade cells and the solar-grade cells, also for slow-discharging rate cells. Crushing them, recycling them, creating a black mass, and exporting them back within equivalent cell manufacturing.

So, we have seen a huge amount of investment going into it from private equity firms, you know, HNI, which set up this ecosystem, and there are 4-5 companies. They are all working on it, and they have successfully taken laptop batteries, 12-volt batteries.

At the end of the day, nuclear battery recycling has been happening in India for 2-3 years. It's from pouch to maybe cylindrical and prismatic sensors that is being done now. So, the basics are the same. Fortunately, technological advancements are happening in this space itself so that you can get the extraction done at a lower cost and on a larger scale.

First, it is put to use in EV, then put to use in a storage application which doesn't require a high-grade cell and then put it to recycled. That is how the entire process works.

Agrawal: As you mentioned, all the HNIs and private equity firms, what are your equity structures? Has there been any investment, and what are your plans in the rounds? Like going for an IPO or not?

Gupta: Yeah, I do understand there is a huge trend of IPO happening, and obviously, it makes sense for everybody for the investors to get a share of that. So, we are a 100% family of investors right now. We have invested upwards of 3 digits, huge investments done in particle integration, and we are probably the only company that does 2 wheelers, 3 wheelers, then does recharging stations, lithium ion battery, EV components, plastic card, everything, and does it.

So, that puts us in a very unique spot where our costs are in our own portfolio. So, we plan that we are going to scale ourselves up, we are going to launch new products in the market, get our spots back up in the ranking, and while we do that, get private equity on board for our future investors. That’s the 3-year roadmap that we have. 5-year roadmap that we have for a complete ecosystem to be built, we can realise those dreams with either private equity of a strategic nature or a non-strategic nature.

It's a time-bound, it's time taking process. So, we are going through those steps, and yes, eventually we aim to bring an IPO at some point. I think my target is 2027. So, that is where the time nets are sought at and looking forward to sort of creating a lot of wealth for the investors and value for the individuals.

Agrawal: Since you are in a complete family business and everything, what do you feel is much better, like going for an IPO in the early stages or going for a private equity firm, getting some equity diluted on that, but like what would be your preference if it's your choice to make it?

Gupta: So, I have thought about it quite extensively, and I feel getting a private equity firm is a better step for us. Why? Because it helps us with a lot of things.

Number one, that it helps us leverage the private equities to get a hand on, I am sure there are a lot of compliances involved at each stage, whether it's IE or anything. So, you know, we will be that helps us sort of structure ourselves in a very unique way and work at it. So, I would say that is the reason.

Going ourselves, IPO also could be there, but I feel the kind of compliance required, the kind of foundations that we can develop. So, we value that. We just want to get the funds just like that. We want to get the funds as well as the entire strategic inputs and compliances so that we can be ready for IPO.

Agrawal: What about your dealer network? Like, every manufacturer in this EV space is expanding rapidly. Going 2-fold, 3-fold, 4-fold. So, what's your speed of developing dealer networks and the after-sales service?

Gupta: So, currently we have around 350-odd channel partners who are working with us in the capacity of 6 services and spare, and we are covering predominantly North India, parts of South and West also. We have expansion plans in the South and West as where we are yet progressing our entire footprint. So, we are going to focus on the South and the West. We will develop main dealers in a 3S model, and so this entire year we will be scaling our dealerships from 350 to up to 500.

Out of those dealerships, the ones that have given their heart and soul into the business are 50% of those dealerships that have been able to work. Some people invest, some people sit and make sure that the business succeeds. So, we have identified a target profile of $30,000. We are trying right now to make our existing dealers who are available replicate through the distribution network that we have with us.

So, that is the entire exercise. The priority is to make them profitable, the ones who are already attached to us. There are a lot who are profitable, there are many who need to take it to that level. That's where we are working for the areas where we are missing, and that's where the entire market is.

When you come on service, we have ASP, which is about getting authorised service partners and some cars, so that a neighbourhood service can be created. In that, we have for this coming financial year ASPs to be opened up. So far, we have been able to make close to 100 in the last quarter. But yes, the idea is to test those and validate and scale up that. 

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