Ultraviolette Automotive plans to invest around Rs 1,000 crore over the next five years to expand its manufacturing, supply chain and production capabilities as the Bengaluru-based electric two-wheeler manufacturer prepares to increase volumes and broaden its product portfolio.
Of the planned investment, around Rs 200 crore will be allocated to expand the company’s existing facility, while approximately Rs 800 crore will be invested in a new manufacturing plant in Tamil Nadu, Niraj Rajmohan, Co-founder and CTO, Ultraviolette Automotive, said. The investment will support production of six products across motorcycles and scooters.
The new facility, located at SIPCOT Industrial Park in Shoolagiri, Tamil Nadu, is being developed with an eventual annual production capacity of 5 lakh vehicles.
“Our current facility is being scaled up to meet a demand of about 50,000 vehicles annually. But this new facility is intended to scale to about 500,000 units annually. With phase one, we will start work to build a capacity of about 250,000 units annually. The facility is expected to reach full capacity between Q1 and Q2 of 2027,” said Narayan Subramaniam, Co-founder and CEO, Ultraviolette Automotive.
Ultraviolette Expands EV Lineup with New Motorcycles and Scooter
The expansion comes as Ultraviolette moves beyond its existing portfolio of two electric motorcycles, the F77 and X47. The company is preparing to add the Shockwave lightweight electric motorcycle and Tesseract electric scooter to its lineup.
Ultraviolette’s broader product roadmap includes four electric motorcycles and two scooters. Two motorcycles are currently in production, while the Shockwave is expected to join the lineup shortly. The company will announce its fourth motorcycle at a later stage. The Tesseract, meanwhile, is progressing towards commercial production as the company’s first announced electric scooter.
New Tamil Nadu Plant to Produce All Six Products
The Tamil Nadu facility will serve as a flexible manufacturing base capable of producing all six products across different vehicle platforms. The plant will cater to both domestic and international markets.
Ultraviolette expects exports to account for around 15% of volumes initially, with the share projected to increase to approximately 25% over time.
“We are targeting markets across Europe, Latin America and North America, while also beginning pilot programmes in Southeast Asia, and we already have a presence in close to 20 European countries,” Subramaniam said.
The new facility will also feature an automated battery production line capable of manufacturing battery packs for multiple vehicle platforms, ranging from the smaller pack for the Tesseract to the larger units used in the F77 and X47.
Ultraviolette Targets Higher-Volume EV Segments
The capacity expansion reflects Ultraviolette’s move beyond its initial focus on high-performance electric motorcycles towards higher-volume segments, including scooters and lightweight motorcycles.
“There is no pivot at all. From our first plan in 2017, this was the exact roadmap. We are just going about things in a methodical way. Our first eight to 10 years were focused not only on launching the F77 and X47 but also on developing technology platforms that could eventually underpin a broader range of products,” Rajmohan said.
The company expects the Tesseract scooter to generate demand of at least 10,000 units per month, based on pre-bookings and pipeline demand. Rajmohan said this has been achieved despite the company undertaking no significant marketing or advertising expenditure.
Ultraviolette also expects demand for electric motorcycles to increase significantly as mainstream manufacturers expand their presence in the segment.
“We see that the scale for motorcycles will also come up to the level of scooters in the next couple of years. In the next 24 months, we will see this sort of growth,” Subramaniam said.
He added that the Tesseract will introduce technologies such as radar-based safety systems at a significantly lower price point than currently typical in the market.
Ultraviolette Plans Greater Supply Chain Localisation
Alongside expanding manufacturing capacity, Ultraviolette is working to increase localisation across its supply chain.
The company currently imports a limited number of key components and materials, including battery cells, microcontrollers and chips, and certain magnet materials.
“We do see that an India supply chain is starting to evolve and we’re starting to see samples coming in from different partners and different vendors on all of these three,” Subramaniam said.
Ultraviolette expects to achieve full localisation across its vehicle supply chain within the next three to four years, as domestic suppliers develop capabilities in these areas.
Despite its aggressive capacity expansion plans, the company said profitability remains a key priority. Its strategy of developing core technologies in-house is intended to reduce dependence on external technology suppliers.
“We have always kept profitability as a core factor, which is why the approach was in-house technology. We have very low dependency on external core technology suppliers,” Subramaniam added.
