TVS Motor Company recently launched its connected passenger electric three-wheeler named King EV Max in Kolkata for the eastern market. Equipped with a high-performance 51.2V lithium-ion LFP battery, the vehicle delivers a top speed of 60 km/h with three driving modes – ECO (40 km/h), City (50 km/h) and Power (60 km/h) to suit varied commuting needs. The vehicle accelerates from 0-30 km/h in just 3.7 seconds and boasts a gradability of 31 percent, ensuring seamless operation on inclined surfaces. Additionally, its water wading depth of 500 mm enhances reliability in challenging weather conditions.

A 179-km range on a single charge makes the King EV MAX an efficient choice for daily transport. The battery supports fast charging, reaching 80 percent in just 2 hours and 15 minutes, while a full charge takes 3 hours and 30 minutes. This ensures minimal downtime for fleet operators and individual users alike.

The L5 segment passenger vehicle comes with LED headlamps and tail lamps for improved visibility and safety. Additionally, the Bluetooth-enabled TVS SmartXonnect system allows users to access real-time navigation, vehicle alerts and diagnostics directly from their smartphones, enhancing operational efficiency and fleet management.

Prioritising passenger comfort, the vehicle features a spacious cabin and ergonomic seating for a smooth and comfortable ride. Its durable construction and well-designed interior make it a standout option for urban commutes.

The company is also set to enter the L5N cargo segment with plans to launch a vehicle within Q4FY25. Commenting on the development, Commercial Mobility Business Head Rajat Gupta told Motoring Trends, “The company is expanding its footprint in the electric three-wheeler space by introducing a cargo variant designed for commercial applications. The L5N classification refers to three-wheeler trucks intended for cargo transportation, whereas the L5M category is designated for passenger vehicles. With this strategic move, TVS aims to strengthen its presence in the electric mobility sector, catering to both passenger and logistics markets.”

Alluding to how TVS leveraged its strong automotive design and manufacturing capabilities in the King EV Max, he noted, “One of the key strengths of TVS is its customer-centric approach, which the company calls ‘Living with Customers’. This methodology involves closely engaging with end users to understand pain points, which are then directly addressed in product development. As a result, the latest TVS three-wheeler EV incorporates industry-first features, making it more advanced, efficient and user-friendly.” 

“A standout feature is the 26 connected functionalities integrated into the vehicle’s digital cluster, setting a new benchmark in the segment. Additionally, TVS has introduced the first Bluetooth-connected three-wheeler, enhancing fleet management and driver convenience. In terms of energy efficiency, TVS leads the category with an optimised 17.4 kWh energy consumption, maximising range while ensuring superior cost savings,” he added.

The vehicle has a localisation level of 65-70 percent and is being manufactured at the company’s Hosur plant, which has an annual production capacity of 250,000 units. While there is no pre-filled order book, demand is driven by daily retail sales, allowing the company to maintain a flexible supply chain. Given the modular nature of its production setup, the manufacturer can quickly scale up output to meet rising market demand, informed Gupta.

Currently, the installed EV production capacity stands at 5,000 units per month, utilising the same manufacturing line for internal combustion engine models.

The vehicle is now available at select dealerships in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and West Bengal with an ex-showroom price of INR 295,000. The vehicle is backed by a 6-year/150,000 km warranty, along with round-the-clock roadside assistance for the first three years.

Alluding to efforts in battery recyclability, Gupta noted, “We acknowledge that battery recyclability is a critical aspect of EV adoption, especially as the Indian market has seen significant growth in two-wheeler and three-wheeler electrification over the past five years. While an estimated battery lifespan ranges between of four to five years, real-world performance often exceeds this range. However, with evolving battery chemistries and new advancements, recyclability remains a work in progress.” 

“Currently, we source battery cells from Korea and the company is actively evaluating solutions for recycling and second-life applications, recognising that as EV adoption accelerates, end-of-life battery management will become increasingly important. While a concrete roadmap for battery recycling has yet to be finalised, the company is committed to developing a sustainable approach in the near future,” he added.

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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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