Kinetic Green, one of the leading manufacturer of electric two- and three-wheelers has bagged $25 million (INR 2.08 billion) investment from Greater Pacific Capital (GPC), a leading global private equity firm, as part of an overall targeted Series A fundraise of up to $40 million (INR 3.33 billion).

Founded in 2016, Kinetic Green is led by Sulajja Firodia Motwani, a third-generation member of the Firodia family, the founders of the Kinetic Group. Kinetic Green manufactures and sells a diverse range of products including electric two-, three-wheelers and golf carts. Till date, the company has sold over 1,00,000 EVs, generating cumulative sales over INR 10 billion.

This is the also the first external equity fundraise by Kinetic Green, and it comes at a time when the Indian EV market is at an inflection point. The company states that EV penetration in India has reached approximately 6 percent, with electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers seeing the fastest adoption and becoming the primary growth drivers of the sector. Furthermore, it is expected that EV sales in India will grow rapidly with a targeted 30 percent EV penetration by 2030, driven by favourable Government policies for increased adoption of electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers. 

The company is in the process of expanding its dealership network reach and is aiming to sell over 1,00,000 EVs over the coming year.

Kinetic Green aims to utilise the funds towards scaling up production at its manufacturing facility in Supa (Maharashtra), marketing and distribution of its current products including the recently-launched e-Luna, and towards research and development of new products. 

The EV maker launched the E-Luna in January 2024 in New Delhi in the presence of Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways. Since its launch the company claims, the E-Luna has received a tremendous market response in large and small towns of India, as a personal mobility solution and as a ‘business partner’, well designed for the fast growing e- commerce and home delivery segment.

In addition to scaling up its sales of electric two- and three-wheelers in India, Kinetic Green will also focus on global expansion, in particular through the launch of its premium golf cart range which are designed, developed and manufactured through an exclusive joint venture with the Lamborghini family of Italy.

GPC’s investment in Kinetic Green is through a combination of instruments including common equity shares, convertible preference shares and debentures. As part of the investment, Nandan Desai, Managing Director and Co-Head of India for GPC, will join Kinetic Green’s Board of Directors. The company is in active discussions with other potential investors to secure an additional $15 million (INR 1.25 billion) of funding which it aims to complete during 2024.

Sulajja Firodia Motwani, CEO, Kinetic Green said, “The partnership with Greater Pacific Capital marks a pivotal moment for Kinetic Green. Our mission has always been to lead the transition to sustainable mobility and make electric vehicles accessible to a broader audience. This investment will enable us to enhance our capabilities, drive zero-emission transportation, and contribute significantly to India’s energy transition goals. As India moves towards its 2030 EV targets, Kinetic Green is well-positioned to be a key driver in this transformation.”

Ketan Patel, Founder and CEO, GPC added: “India’s successful energy transition is critical for the world to meet its net zero objectives, and as the country scales into the third largest economy globally in the next 4-5 years, and its middle class rapidly expands, the electrification of transport will be a crucial element of this transition. The Kinetic Group has been at the forefront of innovation in India’s automotive sector for the last 50 years and with Kinetic Green and products such as the e-Luna, is well positioned to provide innovative and aspirational electric vehicles to India’s large, young and growing population. We are excited to partner with Kinetic Green to help them rapidly scale their business across the country and help drive India’s energy transition forward.” 

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Nawgati has announced the launch of Aaveg Pro, an integrated operations platform for petroleum dealers, at the Petrol Dealers Association Pune (PDAP) Annual General Meeting. The system is designed to digitise fuel station management within the Indian retail ecosystem.

Aaveg Pro serves as a digital operating system to replace manual workflows in fuel retail. The platform consolidates several critical station functions into a single interface:

• Sales and Inventory: Features include shift-level nozzle reconciliation, live inventory tracking and stock variation control.
• Financial Accounting: The system supports VAT, GST, cess and surcharge handling to maintain audit-ready records and real-time balance sheet visibility.
• Fleet and Credit Management: Dealers can manage digital fleet contracts, consolidated invoicing and credit risk monitoring.

The platform is designed to integrate with existing station infrastructure, such as dispensers, CCTV systems, fuel storage compressors and vehicle-tracking systems, to provide operational oversight.

Vaibhav Kaushik, Co-Founder & CEO, Nawgati, said, “The launch of Aaveg Pro reflects our continued commitment to building solutions that solve real operational challenges for fuel dealers. Fuel retail in India still relies heavily on fragmented and manual workflows across accounting, stock monitoring, reconciliation, and customer credit management. With Aaveg Pro, we are bringing these critical functions onto one integrated platform so that dealers can operate with greater visibility, control, and efficiency.”

Aalaap Nair, Co-Founder, Nawgati, said, “Aaveg Pro has been built specifically for the day-to-day realities of fuel retail operations in India. From shift-level reconciliation and stock tracking to consolidated fleet invoicing and live financial reporting, the platform is designed to reduce complexity and improve decision-making at the station level. Our goal is to help dealers move away from manual processes and adopt a smarter, more scalable way of running their businesses.”

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Charge_iN by Mahindra and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) have signed a strategic agreement to develop electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure at HPCL retail outlets across India. The collaboration aims to utilise HPCL’s national fuel station network to increase the availability of public charging points for electric four-wheelers.

HPCL currently operates over 24,400 retail outlets and has installed more than 5,400 charging stations under its HP e-Charge brand. The new stations established through this partnership will exclusively feature 180 kW dual gun chargers, designed for high-speed charging.

The deployment is intended to support the transition to green transportation in India, currently the third-largest automotive market globally. The agreement focuses on building an ultrafast charging network to improve reliability and reduce charging times for EV users.

The partnership aligns with the government's objective of strengthening public EV infrastructure. By integrating chargers into existing fuel stations, the companies aim to provide a platform for nationwide expansion and seamless access for drivers.

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Electric mobility startup Bijliride has detailed plans to expand its franchise network to more than 25 Indian cities. Operating under a Franchise Owned–Franchise Operated (FOFO) model, the company aims to onboard 30 franchise partners by March 2027 and scale its fleet to between 10,000 and 15,000 electric two-wheelers within the next 18 months.

The expansion the startup claims is projected to drive 150 percent growth in fleet operations. Bijliride has identified several urban mobility markets for this phase, including:

• Tier 1 Cities: Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Kolkata.
• Emerging Hubs: Hyderabad clusters, Jaipur, Patna, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, and Kochi.
• Logistics Centres: Nagpur, Indore, Surat, and Visakhapatnam.

The strategy targets demand from logistics operators, gig economy platforms and urban commuters.

Under the FOFO structure, local partners own and manage the fleets while Bijliride provides the technology infrastructure. This includes real-time vehicle tracking, battery management protocols, and rental management systems.

The partners have to commit to a minimum of 50 electric two-wheelers to begin with, an initial investment of around INR 1.4-1.6 million, with a projected breakeven in approximately 15 months under stable fleet utilisation. The startup also assists partners with driver onboarding and connects fleets with demand from local delivery businesses and gig platforms.

Shivam Sisodiya, CEO and Co-Founder, Bijliride, said, “Electric mobility demand in India is growing rapidly, particularly among gig workers and last-mile delivery operators. At this stage, our focus is disciplined scale. The FOFO model allows us to grow responsibly by partnering with local entrepreneurs who understand their markets while leveraging our technology platform and operational systems. This structure enables us to expand faster while ensuring fleets are managed efficiently on the ground.”

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It’s been sometime that Donut Lab has been working on producing a battery that will address the challenging needs of EVs better than other batteries have been able to do. Claiming to be the world’s first solid-state battery ready for production vehicles measured in independent testing conditions, the company has released its third test result that dispels any suspicions that the battery would be a supercapacitor rather than a battery.
The results measure the properties of its solid-state battery, evaluating its ability to retain charge when not in use. Available for download on its site, the third and most recent test follows two other tests that looked at charging speed (the test was conducted by Technology Re) using two passive cooling configurations and evaluation of capacity performance of the battery cell in hot conditions (by the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland). 
The test measuring the battery’s ability to retain charge even when not in use was carried out using a simple research setup. It was connected at room temperature to the research laboratory’s battery tester, which repeatedly measured the cell voltage every 10 seconds. Like the previous test that measured battery performance at very high temperatures, this test also began with a 1C capacity test, demonstrating that the cell was precisely the same as the other test examples.
 
After the capacity test, the battery cell was charged to approximately 50 percent charge and left connected to the battery tester for ten days. The cell was then discharged to measure the remaining energy capacity. The results show that the battery cell voltage stabilises during the first 10 hours after charging. Over the next nine or so days, the voltage curve continues to stabilise. A capacity test at the end of the test period confirmed that the voltage drop corresponds to the amount of energy in watt-hours.
The Donut Battery behaved in the test exactly as a battery should. If the test had been performed with a supercapacitor, the charge would have fallen linearly much faster during the same time period.
“Since we unveiled the Donut Battery, there has been a lot of speculation and theories about whether it is a supercapacitor. In all its simplicity, this test proves that it is a battery. Supercapacitors charge and discharge quickly, but they also lose their charge quickly when not in use. The Donut Battery behaves like a battery and can maintain a charge for significantly longer,” confirmed Ville Piippo, CTO, Donut Lab.
After the third test mentioned above, Donut Lab has carried out a special test to measure battery performance in a battery pack using the Verge TS Pro motorcycle that charges in less than ten minutes, making it the world's fastest-charging electric motorcycle.
 

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