Kinetic Green vehicles, currently active in the three-wheeler segment in both passenger and cargo verticals, and electric bicycles, will be launching electric golf carts designed by Lamborghini, through the joint venture between Kinetic Green and Tonino Lamborghini.
Under this JV, Lamborghini will be designing golf carts, buggies and tourism vehicles, and Kinetic Green will be manufacturing and marketing them for global markets from its Ahmednagar plant. Kinetic Green is currently listing nine golf cart families on its website including the KG-2, KG-4 (similar to the model pictured), KG-8, KG-11 and KG-14 variants. The Lamborghini-branded cart would be a premium offering and the model will be solar- and electric-powered.
Tonino Lamborghini, a high-end luxury company famous for their expensive jewelry, watches and personal care products also has a golfing business, selling clothing, clubs, golf bags. Founded by the son of the legendary founder of Lamborghini, Ferruccio Lamborghini, Tonino is a different company to the one that makes supercars based in Sant’Agata Bolognese.
In a chat with ElectricVehicleWeb.in this week, Sulajja Firodia Motwani, Founder & CEO of Kinetic Green Energy & Power Solutions, provided an update on the project. Here’s what she said on the launch plan and the global aspirations of the vehicle:
We are very excited about that project. It is for the first time an Indian EV will be put on the world map. The product that we have developed is a global market oriented project.
When you say Golf cart, this is not really a Golf Cart, it is an NEB – or Neighborhood Electric Vehicles. So, while it can be used at the Golf Course, it is a vehicle which can be used in tourism, hospitality, airport personal usage space. Interestingly in many markets of US, Europe, the NEBs are street legal in many counties, like in California, Florida and many European countries, the vehicles meet certain street regulations.
They can be used for local errands like we use Auto rickshaw to shop for grocery or drop the kids to school. So the appeal is much wider than the golf cart alone. It is a $3 billion market worldwide, the leading markets are US, Europe, Asia, Middle East, wherever there is tourism, personal orchards and farm houses, there is a need for such kind of vehicles.
There are only two major brands Club Car and Yamaha, the market is still very fragmented. There has not been a lot of product innovation over the last several decades in this space. We have an opportunity to introduce a product with a much differentiated design. Our NEB is designed by Italian designers who have designed Lamborghini cars. Designs are already with us, the product is under development
We will be making these differentiated products, which have high end technologies like hydraulic brakes, advanced suspension, so it will be very comfortable and stylish vehicle. To be marketed around the world under Lamborghini brand, so it will be positioned above the existing leaders in terms of brand imagery. It will be an aspirational brand, designed by Italian engineers yet at an Indian cost of manufacturing.
While the designs have been frozen, we are doing tooling, engineering and prototyping currently. If not for COVID-19, we would have launched this vehicle at EICMA 2020. Now it will be rolled out in in the first quarter of 21.
They will be focused on the global market, India will be a very small fraction of the focus. They will be made in India, with entirely local supply chain, the powertrain suspension to brakes to plastic parts are all sourced in India.
Sulajja Firodia Motwani, Founder & CEO of Kinetic Green Energy & Power Solutions.
The JV, which Kinetic has 75 per cent share, will use the Lamborghini brand exclusively for global markets for golf carts and tourism vehicles. The company is looking to target developed markets with the Indian-made products. At the announcement of the joint venture company in February 2018, Kinetic said that the golf cart segment is growing at over 7.5% CAGR and has a global market size of 300,000 units led by sales in North America and Europe. So what more can one expect from the Lamborghini golf cart platform?
We will have a range of vehicles from two seater to eight seater. The segments that we will target are not just golf as a sport, but a lot on hospitality, travel, and also the personal use as well. We will have a distributor cum assembler partner in all the key markets who will work as per our design and processes to locally do the final assembly and provide spare parts and support to the customers.
Sulajja Firodia Motwani, Founder & CEO of Kinetic Green Energy & Power Solutions.
