Exclusive: Kinetic Green’s New Growth Plan Includes an e-Luna with 200 km Riding Range, New Segment Entry

The lead driver of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) industry, the two-wheeler segment, is maturing to a level which necessitates EV makers to offer different products to the new customer cohorts and tap the opportunities. For Kinetic Green, it is the bottom of the customer pyramid that’s core to its strategy of scaling up the two-wheeler business.

“Fifty percent of the people in India do not have their own vehicles. Also, if you look at the demographics, fifty percent of India earn between 15,000 to 33,000 rupees a month,” Sulajja Firodia Motwani, Founder & CEO, Kinetic Green tells Acko Drive. And, to tap this prospective customer base, Kinetic Green is executing a ‘Luna Limitless’ product strategy. 

“‘Luna Limitless’ is a concept we are coming up with. And this is based on all our learnings over the last 18 months since the product has been introduced in the market,” explains Motwani. Under the ‘Limitless Luna’plan, Kinetic Green takes a modularisation strategy to create a range of products suited for different use cases out of its e-Luna, which is positioned mainly as a workhorse. 

To attract a broader group of customers, the ‘Limitless Luna’ includes a range of variants, priced at ₹59,000, ₹69,000, ₹79,000, ₹89,000, and ₹99,000. The most affordable one has a swappable battery, while the top-end comes with a twin battery, claiming a riding range of 200 kilometres. Called the ‘Luna Twin’, the range-topping variant was “inspired” by the demand from food delivery business Zomato for an EV with a riding range of 200 kilometres.    

Piyush Pandey’s involvement

The highly acclaimed adman Piyush Pandey, who passed away last October, was also involved with the ‘Limitless Luna’ idea. Pandey played an instrumental role in popularising the Kinetic Luna in the 80s, with his famous tagline ‘Chal Meri Luna’ for its ad. While keeping the brand’s fundamental philosophy of enabling a better life through enhanced mobility same, Motwani says the e-Luna tries to do it in a different context, as an EV.  

“Everybody today feels that there are opportunities. So, the mood is ‘how can I do more?’ ‘How can I get more?’ The e-Luna is enabling them to, you know, grow in life. So, what was relevant for Luna in the 70s, 80s, is now being done in a different context,” says Motwani. Pandey’s association with Kinetic was renewed with the launch campaign for the e-Luna.  

Essentially, the ‘Limitless Luna’ range tries to offer high customisation levels in terms of things like battery, the powertrain, display, lights, seat, carriers etc. “All of these functional items actually enable the vehicle to have a different use, and a different performance and a different range,” says Motwani.

Big B2B opportunity

Gig workers, e-commerce delivery, and semi-urban markets are the major focus areas for Motwani and her team to grow the e-Luna as a brand. Motwani sees a TAM (Total Addressable Market) of up to 5 million units for vehicles like the e-Luna in the next 3-5 years. However, Motwani sees a challenge in financing for such EVs, which needs to be tackled for the market opportunities to be tapped successfully.

Currently, the B2B market segment contributes to around 40% of e-Luna’s sales, but with the swift growth in the last mile delivery market, Motwani expects the B2B and B2C sales ratio to be 50:50 soon. Last financial year, Kinetic Green sold 25,000 units of the e-Luna.

With its ‘blue ocean strategy’ for the e-Luna, Kinetic Green has a target of doubling the model’s monthly sales from the current levels, to 2,500 units in 2026-27. For the current year, Kinetic Green expects to clock revenue of ₹500 crore, of which the target for the e-Luna is to contribute  ₹200 crore. The rest is expected to come from three-wheelers, and scooters. The relatively new golf cart business may make a small contribution this year.

For the B2C segment, variants with options with claimed riding range of 80 kilometres (2 kWh battery), 100 kilometres (2.4 kWh battery), and 150 kilometres (3 kWh battery) are being offered. Kinetic Green plans to follow up with a ‘Meri wali Luna’ concept which will offer customers to create their own e-Luna at dealerships. “We can give kits to the dealers and they can give them the option of standard display, a colour display, or a TFT display. Battery options are already there,” says Motwani.

Tapping overseas markets

In its quest to build e-Luna as a major pillar for the company, Kinetic Green is developing a modified version of the e-Luna, with bigger wheels and more power. “We are also looking at the global markets, where we find that the crossover bike like an e-Luna has potential,” says Motwani. Major markets in the ASEAN region for step-throughs – Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia are also the target markets for the reworked e-Luna.

Profitability journey

Kinetic Green’s mobility business, set up in 2017, is yet to report net profits, though Motwani says that it’s been EBITDA positive during five out of its eight years of operations. Pumping money for the e-Luna launch, network expansion also weighed heavy in terms of profitability. Motwani expects her company to be back to EBIDTA positive during the current financial year.   

A quadricycle in the offing?

Acko Drive learns that Kinetic Green may be expanding its portfolio in line with the company’s vision to be a ‘light mobility expert’. The new offering could be a four-wheeled EV. It’s likely to be an extension of its cargo EV portfolio. No official comment on it except that the company’s focus will be to grow as a specialist in light mobility solutions, with a significant focus on the B2B market.