Along with the electrification megatrend grows a comparatively newer trend of Software Defined Vehicles (SDV). Electra EV, an EV powertrain maker, founded by Ratan Tata, now plans to enhance its business value proposition by riding the SDV trend too. The 7 year old startup has appointed Dr. Himadri Bhushan Das, an ex-Ola Electric and ex-TVS Motor executive, to lead the new vertical.

Dr. Das is appointed as Electra EV’s Chief Solutions Architect. He moved to Electra EV after a 20-month stint at Ola Electric, where he joined in December 2022, after working for 20 years at two- and three-wheeler major TVS Motor.

He and his team of around 25 engineers are developing a vehicle OS (Operating System), a critical part for an automobile to qualify as an SDV. Explaining the objective of investing in developing the OS, Samir Yajnik, CEO, Electra EV, says, “It is to give OEMs a highly customised environment so that they can propose to their customers – fleet operators or end users, a customised environment which will maximise life, improve energy efficiency, maximise range, give better preferences of driving, and completely provide all those options in a modularised fashion.”

Electra EV’s COO Sumeet Dhar says that the goal is to offer multiple features “under one roof, in a very customisable way”. The target for the team is to deliver the first set of layers of the OS, applicable for different vehicle types, by March or April next year, and the entire tech stack is targeted to be completed by late 2025.

In the growing market trend of personalisation, OEMs are increasingly loading their vehicles with personifiable features. EVs are fuelling this trend across segments. And, personalisation capabilities is a key focus area, among others, for Dr. Das and his team. ““We want to basically capture the personalisation of a vehicle. If the vehicle should be the companion of the user, that's how the system should work,” says Dr. Das.

In the highly competitive Indian market, it becomes all the more important for emerging players like Electra EV to develop capabilities and enhance competitiveness. Therefore it will be crucial for the new OS project to deliver well.

Electra EV supplies powertrain or powertrain components to around six OEMs. Tata Motors is its first customer, with the Tigor EV and Ace EV as the first set of vehicles powered by Electra EV. it is learnt that discussions are on with about twelve more OEMs. The startup, which saw a $25 million investment from GEF Capital in 2022, clocked a turnover of INR 365 crore in FY24.

To learn more about the electric vehicle ecosystem and meet the key industry leaders, click here.