Bike-Sharing Platform 'Bounce' Got Approval for its Electric Scooter; Test Ride Registrations Begin Bengaluru

• The company also received homologation certification from ICAT in September 2020.
• The company will soon require a manufacturing unit or partners to help scale up the production processes.
• The company has invited its users living in Bengaluru for test rides of the electric scooter.

Bounce, a Bengaluru-based bike-sharing platform, has received all the required approvals for its self-made electric scooter from the Indian government. The company will be soon introducing its self-made EV scooters to its ride-sharing fleet in the country.

The company’s co-founder and CEO Vivekananda HR announced on Twitter.

The Bounce self-made scooter initially started as a conventional petrol-powered scooter (TVS Scooty Zest). However, to encourage the use of EVs across the country, the ride-sharing company has decided to convert these petrol-powered scooters into electric scooters.

The EV in talks also received homologation certification for its self-made electric scooter from International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT) 2 months ago.

Bounce's EV has managed to pass in each of the above-mentioned checks and is now ready for its real-world test at the hands of the end-user.

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The homologation certification process approves every part of the vehicles including components like lamps, mirrors, tires, and more. The process is applicable to all types of vehicles including EV and fuel-run internal combustion engines (ICE) vehicles. 

The company will soon require a manufacturing unit or partners to help scale up the production processes and offer these EVs on a subscription pricing model as well as on a long-term rental basis.

Before the lockdown, Bounce was catering to nearly 1.30 Lakh rides daily, but the number had dropped to 15K rides. This is when the company decided to lay more focus on branching out of its bike-sharing business to subscription-based model and logistics partners.

Even other startups like Ather Energy, Revolt, Okinawa, Tork Motors, and others have received the certifications for their electric two-wheelers in the past. However, Bounce is the only consumer-focused bike-sharing platform to receive the crucial certification in India.

The company has invited its users living in Bengaluru for test rides of the electric scooter. The interested customers can fill out a form here to ride.

About Bounce: The company was founded in 2014 by Vivekananda, Varun Agni, and Anil G. It is the operator of the only dockless self-drive scooter service in India that uses a patented keyless technology which lets a user pick up the nearest Bounce scooter and drop it off at any legal parking zone near their destination.

It has raised about $214.2 Mn from marquee investors like InnoVen Capital, Accel India, B Capital, Navi Technologies, Chiratae Ventures, and more.

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