New Delhi: EV startup Baaz Bikes has recently introduced its electric scooter priced at INR 35,000 without battery (ex-showroom price, Delhi) for gig delivery riders.
A gig driver is hired to make deliveries on a per-task basis, rather than signing on with a company as an employee.
The startup claims that its scooters are locally manufactured and come with swappable batteries, an automated battery swapping network, and fleet management tools.
It plans to sell these scooters to small-scale dealerships where gig delivery riders can rent them, empowering micro-entrepreneurs.
The Baaz Swapping Network will work on the pay-as-you-move model, which aims to lower the daily cost of usability for gig delivery riders, the company said in a media release.
Anubhav Sharma, Chief Executive Officer, Baaz Bikes, said, “All our products and services are designed and developed in-house to bring prominent solutions for the riders on the road such as range anxiety, easy access to charging and lower running expenses. At present, we are operating with a cluster approach, where we launch our vehicles within a radius of 4-5 km in Delhi. In the next 8 months, we aim to replicate this model in multiple clusters to achieve density and blanket the entire Delhi with the Baaz Ecosystem, maintaining the high utilisation of the network. As the network grows, it will open new opportunities for us to address a wider audience.”
Shubham Srivastava, Chief Technology Officer, Baaz Bikes, said, “The commercial segment has a lot of rough usage which impacts the overall condition of the vehicle if not maintained well. While designing the product, our focus was on develoing an electric scooter which can meet the operational challenges and stand as a strong partner for gig riders. Considering the present need and demand of the riders, we decided to make a strong metallic exoskeleton that encloses everything elegantly.”
The company said its Energy Pods (swappable battery) come with safety features recommended by AIS 156 as a standard, making them thermal management flame retardant. They also have an IP 68 rating, making them waterproof and shockproof in normal conditions.
The Automated Swapping Network charges the batteries in a proprietary thermally controlled environment, which increases the battery life significantly. The Swapping Network can be accessed by an RFID card issued by the company and can dispense a charged battery in less than 90 seconds, said a media release.
Baaz claims its proprietary fault detection and preventive management system comes with features like Anti-Vandalism and Anti-Theft to prevent any unauthorised usage.
The Baaz scooter is designed for a daily usage of more than 100km, said the EV startup.
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