Bounce crosses 50,000 bookings, delivery begins April 18: CEO

Abstract

“After the Ola Electric scooter fire incident, we got a lot of inquiries from people asking about our battery technology and how safe it is. We have made it clear that we have been working with these batteries since 2019 and most people understand that we have started …

“The batteries come from Exicom.  It is an Indian battery manufacturer.  They get directories from most of these Korean companies.  Everyone relies on cells outside India.  Cells should start producing in India, ”says Vivekananda Hallekere, co-founder and CEO of Bounce.

On April 18, these electric scooters went public.  How much has been ordered so far?

We have crossed 50,000 bookings and we will begin deliveries from April 18th.  Vehicles are in production and we will probably start shipping them from this plant by Thursday evening.  We start shipping to the top seven cities and people start getting scooters.

Bounce Infinity is very competitively priced.  Depending on the state subsidy, the average is about 70,000.  I remember you saying that.  You are eliminating the cost of the battery and doing the battery exchange.  The Ola scooter was lit up recently.  We all know that EVs have been the cause of fire.  How Safe is Bounce Infinity?  Have you seen a decline in bookings after Ola?

No, we have had a lot of inquiries from people asking what our battery technology is?  How are we sure the battery is safe etc.  We have made it clear that we have been working with these batteries since 2019 and most people understand.  We started with Ride Sharing and we have a group of electric scooters.  I was buying an electric scooter from someone else.  We used our own battery and infra.  The battery is the same for scooters.

So you are basically using a bike without batteries?

Yes.  We always have the infrastructure to replace batteries.  We have battery exchange expertise from 2019.  The battery is again lithium ion and NMC chemistry and it packs 2 kwh of energy.

Speaking of fire, to be honest, summer and fire have nothing to do with it.  It has a high affinity with the BMS, which is like the brain of a battery.  BMS tells you what to do and what not to do.

Does that mean it’s like a black box?

No, the BMS is like a CPU and controls everything;  How much energy can come, how much energy can be emitted.  This is the main component of the battery.  Apart from this, cells also play a very important role in how it is packed.

Basically what happens is that there is more to it.  I wrote about it on Twitter.  There are several things to talk about when you talk about a battery.  This does not happen for just one reason.  There could be any reason.  So BMS should be smart and not abuse the battery.  When I say abuse, I don’t mean physical abuse.  It has a 2 kw hour battery and the maximum capacity of our vehicle is 2.2 …

Tell us in plain language.

Let’s say the energy here is 2 kW per hour.  The maximum power of the vehicle is 2 kw.  It is almost 1: 1.  When you do 1: 1, everything is OK.  When you send more power to the vehicle, the cells heat up or when you send more energy to the battery, such as a fast charge.  Then the battery gets hot.  When you send energy from a battery to a motor like a 2 kwh that powers a 4 kw motor, you send 2x power.  You will then see some problems or overheating.

So is there any speed charge with Bounce Infinity?

You can– Batteries are equipped to charge fast but you don’t have to charge fast because we have a swapping infra.  We have seen many summers and this gives users the confidence to say no.

How about a battery and a bike soulmate?

The batteries are from Exicom.  It is an Indian battery manufacturer.  They get directories from most of these Korean companies.  Everyone relies on cells outside India.  Cells should start production in India.

You have said bookings have not slowed down after the Ola fire in Pune.

How is that possible?  Did you sell at the same run rate?

Yes, we are now telling people to hold on and not pay because we can only deliver more in April.  We will open our bookings again in May because we don’t want people to pay and wait for vehicles.  So we shut down delivery to April.

You are saying your battery is safe.  But somebody is saying Hero is in no hurry to put its bike on the road;  It wants to test its battery more.  You don’t want to do that?  Don’t you think you should restore customer confidence?

We were there.  The test is for someone not assigned on the road.  Our batteries are running day by day.  We do 3,000 swaps for a bounce scooter, sharing the same batteries.

  Sources ETPrime / Bounce