Learn Better - the best 60 minutes

“Keep your ears close to the ground”, “Don’t lose sight of the customer” and the like… All entrepreneurs have heard these remarks from experts, from investors and definitely, from their Board of Directors! But in our eternal optimism, and lust to conquer the unimaginable, asap, we do tend to overlook the specifics and fall back on industry-wide generic claims.

So when I recently got the opportunity to interact with 30+ 3W owners, delivery agents and their families who had been using and (self) driving the Altigreen Electric Cargo 3W for 3-9 months, I was not going to miss it. The Altigreen team, myself included, have together interviewed over 1600 fossil-fuel 3W drivers before we embarked on our mission to build the right electric 3W.

This interaction began formally but with a little cajoling by me, we all opened up. I learnt more in this 1 hour of interaction, than I have in all these years of meeting my business partners, fellow panelists in EV forums, fleet customers and EV gurus. Here are some of the realizations / learnings:

1. They are in awe of meeting the owner of the company whose vehicle is supporting their livelihood. It did bring me at ease.
2. They were not inclined to speak negative about the vehicle upfront – perhaps since it was their own decision.
3. I saluted them for making this very difficult decision of moving to electric, i.e., of moving from the years of certainty in driving fossil-fuel vehicles to a completely new and baffling environment of batteries, electronics, power and software. I bowed in respect that they had made this decision even though their livelihood depended on it, whereas I was still on a petrol vehicle! It made them proud and it was their turn to be at ease.
4. They opened up even further once I told them that Altigreen’s existence was only due to THEM, not vice versa… and their (critical) feedback was essential to help produce even better products in future.
5. [Note to self: One thing became clear immediately – they KNOW their business well! Let us not tell them how they should manage their shifts, and how their interests were better served if they did two runs instead of increased load. The onus is on the OEM to provide them a vehicle that matches their need.]
6. Driveability is very important to them. Just because their existing (fossil-fuel) vehicles don’t give them the comfort, doesn’t imply that they do not crave for it, or care for it. They want a comfortable, safe and smooth driving vehicle. [Note to self: Tall and "big" people are also drivers]
7. In their minds, gradients are the biggest fear wrt EVs. They are amazed that fully/over loaded Altigreen EVs can climb steep inclines without the need of “half clutch”! Its all about torque - deep down, every driver is a G-Force junkie!
8. They do drive at high speed on ring-roads or when they are commuting from the city to the suburbs for a delivery – so yes, they want safety AND speed (Note to self: Think drag, spoilers and boost mode].
9. There is an interesting (and early) concern that repairs of EVs may be expensive since sub-assemblies are usually not available, e.g., think of a Rs 17 "bush" of a diesel engine vs an MCU. They are however willing to still use EVs because of the increased earnings (at 120km to a single charge, they are doing 1.5-2 shifts of loaded travel daily, and consequently earning that much more). [Note to self: Spares of subassemblies = Altigreen differentiator]
10. The vehicles they had been driving thus far needed major/minor overhauls after the first 4-5 years. So battery change is NOT immediately a concern to them.[Note to self: Battery financing will be important and should be readily available]
11. Interestingly, not a single owner asked about inadequate charging facility. Infact, I had to ask them about it… and they all said, “no problem sir”!
12. They hate any downtime, even if it is for routine scheduled servicing during the warranty period. [Note to self: Service centers need to be close-by and perhaps mobile!]
13. Availability of critical spares is essential for their peace-of-mind with the EV. [Note to self: building a service warehouse, spare part stocking, and good logistics is essential!]
14. They want the driver cabins to be roomier and more “embellished” – they want to be the hero of the road! [Note to self: 12-month mission - make them look and feel like heroes. Ensure them price of ownership of Altigreen + Electric!]
15. [And to top it all up] Their families are very happy now – the spouse returns home with less fatigue, more earnings and is much less grumpy!

This last message was the highlight of the day for me. While cleaning the air and providing engineering solutions, we tend to forget the human(e) side of it all... the far reaching impact a technology shift has for an unassuming user.

I look forward to the next interaction eagerly and intently. Ciao!