Vidyut Tech: Deep Analytics to Unlock Value for Electric Vehicles

I have been writing for at least 5 years that electric vehicles make sense from a Total Cost of Ownership perspective. However, many users still struggle to adopt electric vehicles over concerns around charging, battery life, financing and other practical realities. Today's start-up VidyutTech is building a financing and analytic stack to help solve all these challenges.

For now Vidyut Tech is targeting the L5 3W market, where interest rates can be higher than 20%, though for many segments these rates are coming down. Vidyut Tech's core product is a battery subcription (aka. Battery-as-a-Service), which eliminates the upfront battery cost and helps make the upfront cost of 3W more affordable than their CNG or diesel counterparts. The product also creates a flexible pay-as-you-drive EMI for customers – an EMI that adjusts according to the business and utilization of the drivers.

On top of this core product, they are adding new innovations such as a product which includes charging, for a per km cost of Rs. 2.5-3.5/km, vs. Rs. 4-4.5/km for diesel vehicles of the same class. As such, they are working with both charging and battery swapping operators to offer financing, charging and servicing as a package. They are simplifying the process of owning and operating an electric vehicle, further drawing in customers who may otherwise be wary of downtime.

Another key opportunity is in the monitoring, management and operations of the battery life. For certain vehicle classes, the battery life now exceeds that of the chassis, so there is an opportunity for those with better analytics to offer better resale value on the vehicles. Vidyut Tech is partnering with battery recyclers and repurposing companies value and is already able to help price and value electric vehicles for the secondary market. Resale value is a significant challenge for both insuring and financing of EVs. In the medium-term Vidyut hopes to set up a used vehicles network, incorporation inspection, valuation and real-time data on battery and vehicle health.

India has no shortage of EV manufacturers, financiers and tech players and it is only a matter of time before the ecosystem finally takes off. There is a huge opportunity to lower costs, improve energy security and reduce India's fatal air pollution and companies like Vidyut Tech play a key role in using tech to enable the EV revolution. I am so excited to see them (and the entire ecosystem) succeed.