Raptee.HV secures govt backing as India’s first high-voltage EV motorcycle OEM

In a milestone moment for India's electric two-wheeler ecosystem, Raptee.HV, the Chennai-based innovation leader in high-voltage (HV) technology for electric motorcycles, has received strategic funding from the Technology Development Board (TDB), Department of Science & Technology, Government of India. The funding makes Raptee.HV the first electric motorcycle original equipment manufacturer (OEM) in India to be funded by TDB, solidifying its image as a research-oriented, innovation-driven mobility startup.

The capital will boost the company's initiatives in further developing its own high-voltage architecture and deepening its footprint in the USD 1 billion high-performance electric motorcycle market. According to Dinesh Arjun, CEO & Co-Founder of Raptee.HV, this support “is a strong endorsement of our mission to redefine performance electric mobility, from India, for the world."

Building a High-Voltage Motorcycle Ecosystem from Scratch

Unlike most EV startups that retrofit motorcycles using existing technology, Raptee.HV has spent over six years building its high-voltage systems from the ground up. The result is India’s only electric motorcycles leveraging proven electric car technology, offering car-level performance, reliability, and charging convenience.

“This is not about incremental upgrades," says Arjun. “Motorcycle electrification demands leapfrog innovations, especially in performance-driven segments, and we built our own ecosystem because none existed for high-voltage two-wheelers."

The Raptee.T30, the company’s flagship model, brings 240V high-voltage architecture to motorcycles for the first time in India, promising faster acceleration, better efficiency, and shorter charging cycles, a critical leap for performance EV riders.

Government Backing Signals Growing Confidence

Regulators have already noticed Raptee.HV's journey. In 2021, the start-up received a non-dilutive grant of ₹3.25 crore from ARAI-AMTIF, Ministry of Heavy Industries, that initially set the stage for going deeper into its deep-tech strategy.

The TDB funding is refreshingly validating. Traditionally, TDB funding has seeded similar moves in pathbreaking innovations from Tata Indica and Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine candidate, making Raptee.HV one of India's best-represented promising tech-infused start-ups. “This is TDB’s first investment in the EV motorcycle segment," notes Arjun, “which signals a bold commitment from the Government of India to advance next-generation mobility technologies."

Raptee’s in house technology

Raptee claims that its T30 electric motorcycle is not just yet another electric product in the market, rather a revolutionary one. The current electric two wheelers in the market underpin a low voltage architecture which normally measures at 60V. However, the Raptee T30 underpins a 240V architecture, which is usually seen with electric passenger vehicles for faster charging speeds.

Arjun in an earlier conversation with HT Auto explained that the 240V architecture allows the electric motorcycle to multiple advantages over conventional electric motorcycles using low voltage architecture. He added that building a low-voltage motorcycle is either extremely challenging or prohibitively expensive. Some manufacturers achieve this at twice our price point, but they require large heat sinks and complex electronics to manage thermal issues, often compromising performance.

Unlike scooters, which typically have around 8 horsepower, motorcycles average 18 horsepower. The Raptee T30 gets a 22 kW motor translating to around 30 bhp with 70 Nm of torque. This is equivalent to what can be expected from a 300cc internal combustion engine motorcycle.

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