- By 2028, One Moto hopes to be available in 100 cities, sell one million vehicles and save a billion tonnes of CO2.
Dubai-headquartered EV startup – OneMoto – is planning to set up a production plant in Uttar Pradesh and open more offices in India after it parted ways with its former promoter last year.
Adam Ridgway, Founder and CEO of One Moto Technologies, said in an exclusive to TechChannel News, that talks are in the final stages with the UP government to acquire land and a deal is expected to be signed soon.
The startup had launched three EV motorcycles – Commuta, Byka and Electa- in India with their former partners and also opened two experience stores in Hyderabad and Pune.
“We have four territories at the moment. We are planning to set up our head office in Delhi and an office in Mumbai. we are planning to sell 10,000 units in the first year as India is a vast market with 37 million motorcycles on the road. So, even a single-digit market share will be credibly impressive. It is all about doing it right and making it premium and at an affordable price point,” Ridgway said.
Strong EV growth
According to Prescient & Startegic Intelligence, the Indian electric scooter and motorcycle market was valued at $893 million in 2022 and would touch $6.1 billion by 2030, growing at an annual compound growth rate of 27.30 per cent.
According to the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles, sales of electric two-wheelers surged to 8.47 lakh units in 2022-23, more than a two-and-a-half-fold increase from the previous year’s figure of 3.3 lakh units while low-speed e-bikes accounted for 1.2 lakh units last year, while high-speed versions made up the remaining 7.27 lakh vehicles.
“If you look at Hero, Bajaj, Ola and Ather, they are focused on various things. They are great marketing companies while Ather is very much focused on the brand and how premium they are. So, we are very much focused on how we position our distribution network and imbed the values of One Moto with the values of the Indian population,” he said.
Moreover, he said that they are never going to be cheap.
“When you go cheap, the quality of the components and the safety comes down. We will never go for cheap components to increase our sales.”
Sitting in a prime place
Looking back, Ridgway said that they had hard launched in January 2020 but after two months, the global pandemic gained a foothold. During that period, “we tried to focus on sales but customers were flip-flopped whether to lease the bike or buy the bike. We took a bold decision of not to focus on sales but to raise awareness about EVs and transfer knowledge such as CO2 emission and cost of ownership and in return, to know from customers about what they want to know.”
The startup’s main intention is how to build the smart mobility ecosystem in the last mile delivery sector where 90 per cent of the focus is.
In the last two years, they launched distribution networks in more than 10 countries such as Iraq, Ethiopia, Nepal, Chili, the UK, Italy, Jordan, Bahrain, Kenya, India, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka.
Ridgway said that another 26 countries are in the conversation.
“We are sitting in a prime place as none of the manufacturers have secured a presence in the last mile delivery. In July 2022, we launched an experience centre and an R&D centre at Dubai Silicon Oasis. We have launched three new vehicles which are hyper modular EVs which means that the parts are interchangeable and built on the same frame.”
Fleet financing options
In 2023, the startup had raised 123 million pounds in the UK to offer fleet financing to all delivery aggregators where customers can hire it for 3 pounds a day and another $40 million for the UAE market.
“Many customers have been requesting a finance option for our vehicles, to support their stability, growth and transition to sustainable mobility but access to institutional credit is tough for them, so we worked to secure the funding needed. Now it’s time for the fleet operators to tap into this resource,” Ridgway said.
The UAE government has been actively promoting electric vehicle adoption through various initiatives, including the commitment to more charging stations, and fostering partnerships with companies dedicated to sustainable mobility.
“We want to work with the governments and not rely on third parties to convert companies’ fleets to EVs.
Now, we are ready to lease our delivery vans and delivery bikes to clients for less than the monthly outgoings of petrol or diesel,” he said.
Massive expansion plans
Globally, the startup has sold several thousands of units but in the UAE, they have sold 582 units.
“With the UAE’s sights on 50,000 vehicles by 2025, a vision echoed by the government and following the stricter emission target with 40 per cent cut by 2023 announcement by Mariam Al Mheiri, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment, recently, we expect to sell or lease 10,000 vehicles in the next 12 months,” he said.
By 2028, Ridgway expects One Moto to be in 100 cities, sell one million vehicles and save a billion tonnes of CO2.
“We have a vision to IPO by 2028 and the next three years will allow us to realise our mission and even if we want to IPO at all”.
“My end goal is to provide mobility for all but I don’t know how to get there. We have already hit 15 of the 17 goals set by United Nations Sustainable Development goals and would like to hit 17 by the end of this year,” he said.
Moreover, he added that they have assembling plants in the UAE, Sicily in Italy, and discussions are on in Latin America, Mexico, Kenya and Ethiopia.