Bounce, a scooter rental incubator, is the latest company to jump into India's electric vehicle (EV) trend, with plans to introduce its first electric scooter next month and then construct a battery swapping network that will serve both its retail customers and its ride-sharing business.

The chief executive of Bounce, Vivekananda Hallekere told that the business bought a 100% ownership in 22Motors for $5 million. Over the next year, Bounce has set aside $25 million to spend in the electric vehicle market.

This would be yet another turning point for the company, which began as a rental business for high-end performance motorcycles.

Given their lower operating costs, the company aims to replace its whole fleet of shared mobility cars with its own EVs. Last year, after the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted business for months, it sold a large portion of its fleet.
Bounce now has approximately 10,000 petrol-powered scooters, down from a peak of approximately 25,000. The company intends to equip the remaining scooters with electric motors and rent them out to the last-mile delivery segment.

Bounce has acquired 22Motors' unit and intellectual property in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan, as part of the acquisition. The former had its own intentions to deliver electric vehicles as early as 2018, but these never came to fruition. It also formed a partnership with Kymco of Taiwan to jointly market electric vehicles, but the partnership did not continue. As part of the acquisition, Kymco was awarded a share in Bounce.

By January of next year, Bounce expects to start shipping its first scooter under the Bounce Infinity brand through its exclusive dealerships. Its existing unit has the potential to produce around 120,000 scooters per year, and it plans to build another in southern India.

Customers would be able to purchase Bounce scooters with or without a battery, with the latter potentially lowering the price to as low as INR 36,000. Batteries can cost up to 50% of the price of an electric scooter. Bounce has set up switching locations at local companies where customers may rent batteries. This option, however, would initially be offered only in six cities: Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, Delhi, and Vijayawada.

In addition, the company has built another scooter in-house that is aimed at exports and commercial buyers in the delivery business.
Ola, which is in the ride-sharing sector, has also entered the EV space through its subsidiary Ola Electric and aims to begin sales of its first electric scooter next month.