Hyderabad-based electric vehicle startup Gayam Motor Works has forayed into the United Kingdom and European Union markets with its electric three-wheeler. GMW was recently selected by Plexal’s mobility program, a UK based incubator and innovation consultancy in the mobility space.
GMW also claims to be the first Indian electric three-wheeler to receive European certification, which means that GMW’s vehicles comply with transportation requirements in the EU.
“This expansion into UK and EU marks a milestone moment in the growth of GMW. Our SmartAuto Taskman is India’s first electric 3W to receive European certification. This certification is a prerequisite to register vehicles in EU countries. We have already delivered our passenger and cargo vehicles to customers from France, Portugal, Italy and London,” Sri Harsha Bavirisetty, GMW’s COO said.
For this expansion, GMW is working with its dealer partner, Stephen Webb, founder of TukShop in UK, a company that imports and sells ‘Tuk Tuks’, which is what autorickshaw are called.
“TukShop started the autorickshaw craze in the UK way back in 2003. As original importers we are always looking to the future, which is why we are proud to be partners of GMW. We have big plans for this trusted last mile delivery champion, GMW Taskman” said TukShop’s Founder, Stephen Webb.
GMW was founded in Hyderabad by two brothers Rahul and Raja Gayam, who have developed e-autos powered by in-house lithium-ion batteries, which unlike rickshaws with lead-acid batteries, gives a maximum speed of 55 kmph and can go for 100 km on a single charge. In terms of cost as well, these Smart Autos has a running cost of only Rs 0.50/km as opposed to diesel rickshaws, which have a running cost of Rs 3.5/km.
GMW’s Smart Autos are currently being used by e-commerce majors such as Flipkart, Grofers, BigBasket, Delhivery, Amazon, IKEA and several others for their middle-mile and last mile hyper-local logistics.
“Deliveries are a lifeline to vulnerable communities in these hard times, light commercial EV is an affordable and smarter way of moving goods around and addressing the last mile challenge. We are experiencing increased demand for our EVs due to the pandemic from logistics sector. We currently have 4,500 vehicles in our orderbook just from the domestic market” says Harsha.
GMW wants to also leverage the last-mile logistics segment in the UK and EU, especially at a time when online shopping is increasing exponentially.
“Europe last mile delivery market accounted for US$ 677.0 Mn in 2018 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16.1% over the forecast period 2019-2027, to account for US$ 2,491.8 Mn in 2027. Last mile is one of the highest growth sectors in the Transport & Logistics (T&L) industry, however the final leg of delivery is also challenging, and can comprise up to 28% of a product’s total transportation cost. There is a clear opportunity for small and light commercial EVs in this segment as majority of last-mile deliveries in EU and UK are being done using MCVs today, due to lack of smaller/lighter vehicle options in these markets,” GMW said in a statement.