Exclusive: UK’s Zapp EV plans to expand globally, with early start in India

Zapp Electric Vehicles wants to turn its London-based electric two-wheeler brand into a global EV company. And India will be one of its launchpads, TechCrunch has exclusively learned.

The company will launch its first product — an urban electric two-wheeler called the i300 — in the UK as early as next month, followed by Thailand. The company is now adding India into the mix, a massive market that will provide a true test to its international global expansion strategy, Zapp founder and CEO Swin Chatsuwan told TechCrunch in an interview.

The Nasdaq-listed company advanced its plans for India after Chatsuwan noted the country’s potential. The world’s most populous country not only witnesses millions of two-wheeler sales annually, it’s also the second-biggest two-wheeler manufacturer worldwide after China.

“We thought India would be phase two for us when we did our research a few years ago, but we made a decision earlier this year that it can’t wait,” Chatsuwan said.

Zapp has named Indian electric two-wheeler maker Bounce Electric 1 as its contract manufacturer to produce and sell the i300 locally in the country. After completing the homologation process, sales are expected to begin in 2025. The British company aims to have a minimum capacity of 5,000 units per year in India as part of its broader global goal of 25,000 units by 2026.

Of the 17 million two-wheelers sold in India last year, Chatsuwan told TechCrunch that 2.8 million were high-speed vehicles, and 36% of those high-speed vehicles were heavy-weight cruiser motorcycles from the Chennai-based brand Royal Enfield. Zapp wants to duplicate Royal Enfield’s success with its step-through model, which was unveiled first in 2018.

“We’re not trying to conquer the world. We’re not trying to take half Royal Enfield’s market share and sell 500,000 bikes in India. We’re not. We would see that our quality and performance peer is BMW, particularly their CE 02 and CE 04 step-through electric scooters,” the executive told TechCrunch.

The India launch of Zapp’s i300 will help the company expand its total addressable market (TAM) of 60 million units annually by 25%. By adding India to the map, the TAM of its first phase of market debut has reached 30 million annually, the company said.

The early launch in India will help Zapp understand the “breadth, depth and quality” of the country’s supply chain, Chatsuwan stated. This may help export vehicles from India to global markets over time.

Unlike electric two-wheelers by key Indian manufacturers Ola Electric, TVS Motor and Ather Energy that sell between $1,000 and $1,800, Zapp’s i300 will be a pricey option. The two-wheeler will debut in Europe with a base price of $7,590, excluding taxes.

The India pricing is yet to be decided, though Chatsuwan said it wouldn’t be “more than a million rupees, but I doubt it will be lower than 500,000 rupees.”

The i300 is hitting the streets soon

Zapp unveiled the i300 as its first two-wheeler in 2018. The vehicle comes with an aerospace-grade alloy load-bearing exoskeleton and a chrome-moly steel underbone design. It also carries an air-cooled electric motor with a peak power of 14kW and packs two portable batteries, each with 720Wh capacity.

The company started taking pre-orders for the i300 soon after its unveiling, charging a reservation fee of 100 euros. It promised to begin deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2019. However, the COVID-19 pandemic halted production and deliveries.

Nonetheless, Zapp is set to start delivering the i300 in the U.K. in the next few weeks. It also plans to begin selling in Thailand this year through a facility in Bangkok.

Zapp set to become ‘complete motorcycle company’

“We’re not a one-hit wonder. We want to show the world that we’re a complete motorcycle company, but let’s begin with executing the first product first,” Chatsuwan told TechCrunch when asked whether Zapp looks to expand its product lineup.

The company also plans to stack up the i300 with “loads of” personalization options and accessories. It already offers the two-wheeler in four distinct versions and lets consumers customize its color and wheel design based on their preference and add accessories, including a hidden storage and fast charger.

Zapp plans to expand its market by entering Spain, Italy, Vietnam and Indonesia in phase two and expand to countries in the Middle East and South America over time.

“We want to be the 21st-century version of Triumph and Royal Enfield and Norton,” Chatsuwan said.