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Father-son duo Prakash and Pranav Dhandekar, founders of Indore-based EV firm Wings EV, with their first electric ‘micro-car’ Robin.
The Indian automobile industry will soon see the arrival of a new category: an ‘electric microcar’ called Robin, a two-seater EV that the makers say will be as easy to drive as a motorcycle.
Wings EV, the Indore-based company founded by the father-son duo, will unveil the Robin in Bengaluru in April 2025 to “promote personal commuting with zero pollution, less congestion and less road space”, said CEO and co-founder Pranav Dandekar.
Mr Dandekar, a PhD in Computer Science and a graduate from Stanford University, said, “Robin has already passed all the safety tests conducted by ARAI Pune, making it safer than any existing two or three wheeler in the market. We hope to sell 3000 units in the first year against the annual production capacity of 10,000 at our Indore plant.”
The EV firm has raised funds from various investors, including Venture Highway and “several high-profile angel investors from India and Silicon Valley”, the CEO said.
Mr Dandekar, a techie who has worked in Silicon Valley for 17 years, said Wings EV has conducted user research in six cities across the country and over 300 test drives in Bengaluru.
Later in 2025, Robin will also be launched in Chennai and Hyderabad or Pune, after which the company will introduce it across the country in the new format.
”We are planning to start deliveries in April 2025. The orders we currently have give us an idea of how much our first batch is going to produce. If we get enough volumes in the southern markets, we will also consider setting up a production unit in the region,” Mr. Dandekar said.
The Robin will be available in three variants: a basic non-AC 65km range model priced (ex-showroom) at Rs 2 lakh (11% higher on-road price), a mid-variant with a fan and 90km range priced at Rs 2.5 lakh and a premium variant with 90km range, AC and a patented audio alert system for enhanced safety priced at Rs 3 lakh.
Fully loaded, the Robin negotiated a 12-degree incline against the required 7 degrees. Mr Dandekar said most flyovers are in the 3/4-degree range.
According to his father Prakash Dandekar, CTO and co-founder of Wings EV, over 18 million two-wheelers are sold in India every year. “In the next 15 to 20 years, a large portion of two-wheeler buyers could move to two-seater micro cars,” said the CTO, who previously headed the embedded systems and telematics division at Tata Technologies.
He said the Robin is powered by a drive-by-wire powertrain, similar to the fly-by-wire technology used in advanced aircraft.
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