Dinesh Arjun, Co-Founder and CEO of Chennai-based e-mobility startup Raptee.
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Electric motorcycle startup Raptee.HV is accelerating its expansion plans as it looks to strengthen its retail presence and scale manufacturing, with the company targeting entry into five cities and ramping up production to 1,500 motorcycles a month by the end of the current financial year.The Chennai-based company on Friday launched its first experience centre outside Tamil Nadu in Bengaluru, marking the first step in its national retail expansion. It plans to enter Kochi and Hyderabad by December, followed by Pune and Gurugram by the end of the financial year.“Our production is expected to scale up to about 100 units a month by September and then to 300 units a month by December. By then we want to be in Cochin and Hyderabad as well. By the end of the financial year we want to be in Gurgaon and Pune,” Dinesh Arjun, co-founder and chief executive of Raptee.HV, told businessline.While the Bengaluru outlet marks a key milestone, Arjun said the company is prioritising brand visibility over immediate sales. “We already have bookings for the next six months. So we’re not really looking at sales as a key factor here. What I really want is more people to know the brand. So that as I scale up production, people would know, ‘I’ve seen them’,” he said.Raptee currently operates a five-acre manufacturing facility in Chennai with an installed capacity of 1,500 motorcycles a month. The existing plant can be expanded to produce up to 9,000 units a month with additional machinery. The startup has also secured a 40-acre parcel of land on the outskirts of Chennai, where it plans to build a larger manufacturing facility over the next 18-24 months to support future growth.Founded in 2019, Raptee is betting on the electric motorcycle segment, which it believes remains largely untapped despite India being the world’s largest motorcycle market. According to the company, India sells about 13 million motorcycles annually compared with around 6 million scooters, while electric penetration in motorcycles remains at just 0.1 per cent, significantly lower than scooters at 31 per cent.The company recently began customer deliveries of its flagship T30 electric motorcycle, priced at ₹2.39 lakh (ex-showroom), which is built on its proprietary 240V high-voltage architecture.Published on July 18, 2026
