Dinesh Arjun Co-Founder & CEO, Raptee.HV at the company’s factory in Chennai
| Photo Credit:
Bijoy Ghosh
Have you wanted to own an high performance electric motorcycle but been put off by inadequate charging infrastructure?
Chennai-based EV start-up Raptee.HV launched to address this dilemma and is now ready for commercial launch of India’s first high-voltage electric motorcycle, which delivers performance equivalent to the 250-300 cc internal combustion engine vehicles. Over 8,000 bookings are already secured, Dinesh Arjun, co-founder & CEO, Raptee.HV, told businessline.
After five years of R&D and a successful pilot with 12 early adopters, Raptee is set to begin full-scale deliveries by November, starting with Chennai and Bengaluru. The USP of the start-up is that its bikes are compatible with India’s 35,000+ public car chargers.
“Home charging takes just one hour, while fast charging completes in 36 minutes—far ahead of the industry average,” said the founder, a former Tesla production manager. “Ours will be the only motorcycle at present that is compatible with CCS2 charging points, which are currently used for 4-wheelers electric cars. We have registered over 70 patents to date,” he added.
Raptee is launching six own outlets and will expand through a dealership model backed by investor-partners. The flagship motorcycle, priced at ₹2.55 lakh on-road, features a 240V drivetrain—unlike conventional scooters that operate at 48V–72V. This high-voltage architecture enables sustained performance without overheating, even on hilly terrain, he said. “We are India’s first High-Voltage Electric Motorcycle T-30 compatible with car charging stations. Raptee.HV Motorcycles are priced at ₹2.39 Lakhs on par with the 250-300 cc ICE vehicles,” he added.
To support its growth, Raptee has raised ₹40 crore in equity and ₹10 crore in debt. It is currently finalising a $20 million (₹165 crore) funding round, with backing from venture capital firms, family offices, and strategic investors.
Fund expansion
The capital will fund expansion from 1,500 to 9,000 units per month, with a new 40-acre facility in Cheyyar in Tamil Nadu in about three years to increase output to 70,000 units annually. Tamil Nadu’s government has allocated land and is offering subsidies under its EV policy. The investment in the plant could be around ₹360 crore, he said.
Raptee’s vertically integrated approach includes in-house development of motor controllers, sensors, and battery management systems. It uses NCA chemistry cells—rare in India—for enhanced performance and longevity.
“It took us nearly six years to build the product as we wanted to ensure that we have a good vendor co-creation, and technology development. We built in-house performance tech from scratch believing only true innovation could change the mid-size motorcycle EV segment,” he said.
Raptee has another product coming up in about six months, which will be slightly more premium than the present. “We want to go into the mass market with a 150 cc bike in two-and-half years,” he said. “We are not here to make another EV. We’re here to make a better vehicle,” Arjun said. The EV start-up has no plans to enter the crowded scooter market.
Hailing from an engineering background, Dinesh had worked with automotive giants such as Royal Enfield, Yamaha and Hyundai, and most recently on design feedback and manufacturing team at Tesla in the US. Raptee is his third venture in the automotive space.
VC fund Bluehill Capital, HNIs like Eugene Mayne, Founder and CEO of Tristar Global, Ramesh Kannan, Managing Director, Kaynes Technology and Lakshmi Narayanan, former CEO Cognizant, participated in Pre Series A round of Raptee. The Automotive Research Association of India is also an investor to support high-voltage tech development.
Published on August 18, 2025
