Sooorya EV reveals styling for its upcoming passenger fleet EV

Singapore-based Sooorya EV has been in stealth mode since 2017, working on a ‘purpose-built’ EV for the commercial passenger fleet segment in emerging markets. The company is in the process of incorporating in India and plans to launch its prototype before the end of 2024. Styled in Italy, Sooorya EV is now embarking on the next stage of vehicle development, with detailed engineering, prototype production, testing, validation certification and launch.

The market for shared mobility services is projected to grow rapidly to over $379 Billion by 2027 (source: Statista). The number of users of ride-hailing & taxi services will be over 1.45 billion & the annual demand for passenger fleet vehicles will be around 12 million. “However, there is hardly any born-electric vehicle purpose-built to suit the needs of the ride-hailing/sharing business. Legacy automakers have traditionally not focused on the passenger fleet segment because it comprises just 10 to 15 per cent of the overall passenger car market. Moreover, renowned passenger car manufacturers do not want their brand image to be sullied by being seen in the taxi segment”, said Christie Fernandez, Founder and CEO of Sooorya EV.

Solving for charging downtime

While there are many advantages of using electric vehicles in fleets, including low fuel & maintenance costs and no tailpipe pollution, the biggest challenge with EVs for fleet operators is charging downtime. Sooorya EV said that it has spent many years on research & development, assisted by EV drivetrain & battery suppliers, to develop a unique vehicle architecture of ‘Fixed Batteries + Swappable Batteries + Solar Roof’ to solve the issue of charging downtime and improve vehicle efficiency. 

The EV (purpose-built for the passenger fleet segment in developing countries) aspires to offer ‘Zero Charging Downtime’ and is confident of its PMF (Product Market Fit) based on the number of enquiries received from India & global markets, even before officially launching in the market. 

Christie Fernandez, a serial entrepreneur, says, “We have already spent over 5 years of concentrated effort in product development; we now have everything in place to get into production.” Christie has spent over 10,000 hours in the EV space, developing good insights on EV technologies & markets.

Arvind Sharma, who joined the board of Sooorya EV as a Co-founder & Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), is an automotive domain expert with cross-functional experience across highly reputed business establishments in India, Singapore, China & America. “I am excited to be part of the Sooorya Team and look forward to successfully launching Sooorya EV, which will also have a positive social &  climate impact”, said Arvind Sharma.

The company has been boot-strapped all these years and is now open to strategic investors & partners. Investors in EV startups have issues with long gestation (product development time is 5 to 7 years for an automobile) and lack of demand (not good PMF), both of which have already taken care of us, added Christie.