Ratan Tata, the former chairman of Tata Sons is going to invest in Tork Motors, an electric two-wheeler startup based out of Pune.
Tork Motors is going to unveil its flagship electric bike, the Tork T6X in the coming months. It is an entirely indigenously developed electric vehicle, and will be one of the first ones available in India when it comes later this year.
Tork Motors was founded in 2009 by Kapil Shelke, who himself has a history with bike racing and off-roading. Following that passion, the T6X is a sports bike that has a top speed of 100 kmph and a range of 100 km per charge. The lithium-ion batteries can be charged up to 80% in just an hour. Proprietary charging solutions will also be set up across Pune at the time of the launch.
All the components from the chassis to the motor and even the PCB are designed and manufactured in India. Only the batteries are currently imported. They expect to have about 5,000 T6Xs on the streets of streets by the end of this year.
Bharat Forge, the biggest automobile component manufacturer in India also acquired a stake in Tork Motors in 2018 to help them with expertise as well.
Ratan Tata is known to invest in passionate and promising startups. Before finalizing the partnership, his office representatives audited Tork Motors' factory, understood the concept and checked the viability of the electric bike.
Speaking on the occasion, he added, “In the last few years, there has been a sea of changes in the attitude towards electric vehicles. This industry is changing rapidly and I place value on the sound logic and the approach that the team at Tork Motors has taken. Overall, I am very impressed and feel that this is the kind of spirit that should be present in every Indian entrepreneur.”
