Montra bets on heavy electric trucks to hit $1-billion revenue milestone by 2030

Mumbai: Montra Electric, the Murugappa Group company that makes electric commercial vehicles, expects nearly 70% of its targeted $1 billion (around ₹9,600 crore) revenue by 2030 to come from electric trucks, including heavy and light vehicles, managing director Jalaj Gupta told ET.

About half the targeted turnover would come from heavy trucks, with small commercial vehicles in the 2.0- to 3.5-tonne segment contributing another 23-25%, he said. Three-wheelers are expected to account for about 20% and 7-10% by tractors.

The company is confident of the growth despite penetration of e- trucks in heavy commercial vehicles remaining below 1%, with limited charging infrastructure on long-haul routes and most electric trucks operating on short, predictable routes.

Montra manufactures electric three-wheelers, tractors, small commercial vehicles and heavy trucks, with around 21,000 vehicles on the road. It posted ₹740 crore of revenue last year.

Gupta said increasing battery capacities could help overcome range constraints. "There was a time when it all started with some 250-kilowatt batteries. Now everybody is talking of at least 350- to 400-kilowatt batteries," he said. Battery packs in the 450-kWh range that are showcased at industry events could deliver around 300 km on a single charge, he added.

He flagged the scrappage-linked structure of the government's PM E-Drive, which gives upfront subsidies for the purchase of e-trucks against scrapped diesel trucks, as a hurdle for the industry. "The linkage to the scrappage certificate...is where the challenge has been," he said, noting that vehicle scrapping remained voluntary. He estimated scrappage under the scheme for N2 and N3 trucks around 3,400-3,500 vehicles over three years.

Industry sales of electric N3 trucks (having gross vehicle weight of more than 12-55 tonnes) rose from about 850 units last fiscal year to around 1,300 in the first five months of the current year, driven by state EV policies, sector-specific deployments in cement and steel, and higher diesel and CNG prices, Gupta said. He expects more than 50% annual growth in electric heavy trucks and small commercial vehicles in coming years.