[sri_tesla]

Below are the 4 models that are launched:



These 4 designs are the most common electric scooters being launched by different unknown companies in the country for the last 1-2 years. That's because these are Chinese imports. These companies are importing all the parts and refitting them locally.


You will find same designs from below companies:

Pure EV,
Okinawa,
Ampere,
Hero Electric,
Joy e bike,
Exalta,
One Moto,
Red Moto,
Earth energy,
Komaki,
Okaya,
Omega,
Evtric,
Dao ev tech,
Jitendra,
HOP electric,
White Carbon,
Kabira,
BattRE,
NIJ Automotive,
Odyssey,
EEVE

[shortbread]

Why doesn't the government clamp down on these fly by night chinese kit assemblers?! It doesn't benefit our economy or industry in any way.

[Mohitkumaar]

Originally Posted by shortbread

Why doesn't the government clamp down on these fly by night chinese kit assemblers?! It doesn't benefit our economy or industry in any way.

Agree that these should be under CKD regulations

[Aditya]

Chinese electric scooter imports and fly-by-night operators - Posts moved to a new thread.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by sri_tesla

These 4 designs are the most common electric scooters being launched by different unknown companies in the country for the last 1-2 years. That's because these are Chinese imports. These companies are importing all the parts and refitting them locally.


You will find same designs from below companies:


Okinawa,

I'm intrigued at your statement with Okinawa. Are you saying this is just another tall claim? - https://www.manufacturingtodayindia....h-speed-growth
https://yourstory.com/smbstory/elect...o-electric/amp
https://www.thebetterindia.com/25505...d-india-nor41/

[sri_tesla]

Originally Posted by aargee

I'm intrigued at your statement with Okinawa. Are you saying this is just another tall claim?

They are among the first ones to start this trend of importing CKD kits and selling under Okinawa brand. Autocar India did an article on this long back in 2017 itself. They import Luyuan branded scooter kits and sell them here. Even the logo is similar.

https://www.autocarindia.com/bike-ne...-indian-406899

Luyuan website:
https://www.luyuanvehicle.com/3-electric-scooter/

They are not the only ones. All of the companies are I listed above do the same. Look at the below image. Left one is Okinawa R30 and right one is Ampere Reo. Why are they so similar if they are designed in-house? All this information is publicly available on these companies' own websites. It's easy to cross-verify these with electric scooters on Alibaba.



The only exceptions to these CKD imports are Ather, Ola, and Ultraviolette automotive as of now.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by sri_tesla

They are among the first ones to start this trend of importing CKD kits and selling under Okinawa brand

Are they doing it now? If they're then, yes, they're to be categorized under CKD kits importers from China & assemblers is my point.

BTW, I've no affiliation with them & I don't own any vehicles from them. As of date they claim to have localized 90+% of their parts in India

[irdevanand]

Originally Posted by sri_tesla

Below are the 4 models that are launched:

Attachment 2236680

These 4 designs are the most common electric scooters being launched by different unknown companies in the country for the last 1-2 years. That's because these are Chinese imports. These companies are importing all the parts and refitting them locally.


You will find same designs from below companies:

Pure EV,
Okinawa,
Ampere,
Hero Electric,
Joy e bike,
Exalta,
One Moto,
Red Moto,
Earth energy,
Komaki,
Okaya,
Omega,
Evtric,
Dao ev tech,
Jitendra,
HOP electric,
White Carbon,
Kabira,
BattRE,
NIJ Automotive,
Odyssey,
EEVE

Is BENLING too one such company? Came across their products in twitter and found a local dealer nearby. The company name is BENLING but the showroom's have BENLG branding. Their twitter handle is posting lots of customer stories and some funny memes https://twitter.com/PluginBikes . Attaching their scooter line up. Couple of them are matching these designs.





Regards
Dev

[neil.jericho]

I am afraid that I dont understand the essence of the discussion in this thread. Is it that multiple companies have similar looking scooters in the Indian market? Is it a bad thing? Why are we certain that they are fly by night operators? Is there any evidence that points to the same? Maybe they are in it for the long haul? As with most things EV, there are more unknowns than knowns, so Im curious to learn more about these brands and their operations.

I see quite a few showrooms in Cochin that sell electric scooters from brands that are unknown to me. These showrooms havent sprung up overnight. In my ignorance, I assume that these are Chinese origin scooters but I havent heard of anyone buying these scooters and using them for daily errands. The few I see on our roads arent being ridden at very high speeds.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

I am afraid that I dont understand the essence of the discussion in this thread. Is it that multiple companies have similar looking scooters in the Indian market? Is it a bad thing? Why are we certain that they are fly by night operators? Is there any evidence that points to the same? Maybe they are in it for the long haul? As with most things EV, there are more unknowns than knowns, so Im curious to learn more about these brands and their operations.

Fair point Neil, but the suspicions & concerns are understandable. There are too many lies, dubious claims and shutdowns in the 2-wheeler world from the newbies.
Where is Eider? Regal Raptor? The 2-wheeler graveyard in India already has like 10 - 20 companies, all new entrants with no prior experience.

Selling an electric car is mighty tough, but two-wheelers is easy as pie. Import from China, paste your own badges, open some small 2-wheeler showrooms (even 500 sq ft is enough) and voila! Here's a new 2-wheeler company.

Related = I would NEVER trust any of these unknown brands due to safety concerns. A mechanical failure in a car means a crash. On a 2-wheeler, it will almost certainly lead to your body meeting the road.

[shortbread]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

I am afraid that I dont understand the essence of the discussion in this thread.

The issues are multiple:

- There is this loophole in the system which allows these businesses to import chinese knock down kits and assembling them locally. It's detrimental to the local economy and domestic EV manufacturers. Why invest in the Indian domestic industry if it's easier to make money this way.

- Hurts multiple Indian component manufacturers who cannot compete with cheap chinese cloned parts.

- The lack of regulation means every Tom dick and harry is a two wheeler company these days. On top of the above mentioned issues, these companies bear minimal risk minimising their commitment. While no business is guaranteed to last forever, such a business is designed to simply shut down immediately if not profitable.

- Sub standard quality automotive products that pose multiple risks, for users as well as the general public. Also customers have zero backing when such companies wind up operations.

For a government pushing for local manufacturing, I am stunned this business model has fallen under their radar.

[VW2010]

The risk vs reward takes over when thinking about buying an EV.

Reward

Honda Activa costs 80K+, runs on petrol costing 100 rupees a litre at an approximate cost of say 3 rupees a KM.

EV from Chinese - Costs 60K, runs at sub 1 rupee a KM(much lesser in local conversion kits that we have tested)

The reward is basically the lower cost of owning(in general) and running

Risk

Honda Activa - Almost risk-free(except user error) with proper service, resale value, parts and more

EV from Chinese - Risk of fire, not tested or approved by anyone, lack of service, spares or parts.

For those owning a scooter, the expectation is to run errands and not to explore the world. The cost becomes a huge factor and most will be ready to take the risk.

Back to the topic, I am in favor of such operators to push brands to make affordable EVs instead of overpriced ones in the name of new tech and early to market advantages. There is no guarantee that all these EV's from reputed brands have 100% risk-free riding in the limited time they are running. We have not even hit the battery replacement time frame on most cars sold in India.

[rajshenoy]

While having a conversation with a neighbour on EV scene (Ola, Ather etc) he laughed and said its waste of money and our own desi companies like Hero/ Okinawa are selling much cheaper EV(can buy 2 for the price of Ather). I tried convincing him that if it is cheap, then there is no R&D and most likely it is a Chinese import being re-branded.

What irks me is the fact that our own companies are exploiting the loopholes and selling sub-standard products in our market. Chinese could not penetrate our market with ICE due to the solid competition from our own home grown companies like Bajaj and TVS who raised the bar. Unfortunately these makers are not giving a serious push towards EV which is helping the "use and throw" model to work.

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by shortbread

Why doesn't the government clamp down on these fly by night chinese kit assemblers?! It doesn't benefit our economy or industry in any way.

Well it does benefit our economy.
I am sure these 2 wheel EVs are not being bought by rich people.
So what we are left with is a large section of population who have to make daily decisions on each item - to spend or not to spend - in order to meet the monthly budget.

Cheap equipment by "fly-by-night" operators allow these people to spend the remaining money somewhere else, benefiting someone else and in turn helping the economy grow.

If you would've said risky (risk to people's health) then I would've agreed.

[shortbread]

No it doesn't benefit the economy.

Had these been manufactured locally, the investments would start from setting up a plant, local employment, domestic component manufacturers etc etc...

The money invested circulates within the economy and not being sent outside to kit manufacturers in china!

Considering the quality and features, they are not exactly VFM either, one simply get's what one has paid for. The buyer benefits long term when buying a product from an established manufacturer with service backing, resale etc.

Originally Posted by alpha1

Well it does benefit our economy.
I am sure these 2 wheel EVs are not being bought by rich people.
So what we are left with is a large section of population who have to make daily decisions on each item - to spend or not to spend - in order to meet the monthly budget.

Cheap equipment by "fly-by-night" operators allow these people to spend the remaining money somewhere else, benefiting someone else and in turn helping the economy grow.

If you would've said risky (risk to people's health) then I would've agreed.