Royal Enfield is set to produce EV in Tamil Nadu

Royal Enfield aims to build a new factory in Tamil Nadu to diversify into electric vehicles and extend its product line. Sources claim that Royal Enfield has already purchased a 60-acre plot of land in Cheyyar, a suburb of Chennai. Depending on the manufacturing capacity that is decided upon, there are plans to invest between Rs 1,000 crore and Rs 1,500 crore over the next 12 to 24 months.

Royal Enfield's New Factory in Tamil Nadu

The new factory will focus on creating new Royal Enfield ICE motorcycles. The business is preparing to introduce the Shotgun 650, and the eagerly awaited Himalayan 450 following the recent introduction of the Super Meteor 650 and the Interceptor/Continental GT 650 with alloy wheels. The first bike is most likely to be produced in a special area of the company's current VallamVadagal plant, which serves as the main location for producing its IC engines. According to information obtained, the corporation has already started construction at the Cheyyar plot to ensure a seamless switch to EVs whenever such models are ready for release.

Royal Enfield's existing plants in Oragadam and VallamVadagal can produce more than a million units annually, sufficient to service the rising demand. The company must be future capacity ready given the anticipated rebound in the domestic two-wheeler market, RE's ambitious global expansion, and its diversification into EVs.

 Electric Motorcycles of Royal Enfield

The company is working on two different EV architectures: an internally developed (codename L1A) EV that is anticipated to go on sale in FY2024–2025 and an alternative that uses the EV platform of Stark Motorcycle, a Spanish EV start–up in which Royal Enfield's parent company Eicher Motors purchased an equity stake.

Early in February 2023, our sister newspaper Autocar Professional obtained the first exclusive on Royal Enfield's plans to invest between $100 and $150 million in electric vehicles. With ambitions to produce three different models with a combined potential of 1,20,000–1,80,000 units per year, development work on a dedicated L platform has started.

The company wants to validate the EV before the end of 2023 to prepare it for a market launch in 2024; therefore, the prototype is anticipated to be available in the upcoming 12 months.

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