Electric is future
Zero 21 Renewable Energy Solutions, a Hyderabad-based startup has developed the ReNEW Conversion Kit. This e-kit will help both diesel and CNG-powered three-wheelers or auto rickshaws convert to electric. Zero 21 started developing this conversion kit in 2018. It took the firm a couple of years to develop the kit. As a small venture they couldn’t afford to make any mistakes with their product. Initially, they sourced most major components from China.
Zero 21 is one of the six manufactures enlisted by the Delhi government to convert old petrol and diesel vehicles that cannot ply on the roads into electrical vehicles (EVs).
Zero 21 was founded in 2017 by ex-Tesla Motors employee Rani Srinivas. The startup aims to leverage emerging technologies and skilled expertise to offer a wide range of battery powered three-wheelers.
49-year-old Srinivas has an experience of 26 years in the corporate field, working across 20 countries on business process optimisation and enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation projects.
Vast experience
He settled down in the US working for Tesla Motors as an IT manager, overseeing the software side of production, among other things. He was also involved in coordinating with the shop floor and production planning. This helped him understand material procurement, the production, and supply chain processes.
Srinivas wanted to come back to India after working at Tesla for nearly three and a half years. He wanted to venture into the electrification of the three-wheeler segment to address air and noise pollution. The biggest learning Srinivas attained at Tesla was their outstanding technology. According to him, it’s simple, but a differentiating factor. The ex-Tesla ex employee says that the process and technology is so easy to maintain and it reduces air and sound pollution in vehicles.
Srinivas felt that three-wheelers facilitate such commutes and they are among the most economical means of transportation. This made him think that the EV technology popularised by Tesla was an urgent requirement in India.
Srinivas arrived in India in 2017 and established Zero 21 Renewable Energy Solutions. For him, the term Zero 21 refers to ‘Zero air and sound pollution in the 21st century’. In 2018, he started working on his company’s first product, the Smart Mule.
This commercial transport vehicle can last up to 10 years. The Smart Mule can carry loads up to 350-400 kg. The customers include companies offering last mile delivery of cooking gas, water cans, items from mom and pop shops, and e-commerce companies. The firm has developed Smart Mule passenger vehicles used by commuters in Hyderabad from metro stations to their residences, offering last mile connectivity.
Zero 21 is a bootstrapped venture now. It is open to raising funding. Srinivas has sought funding only after attaining a little success and understanding the market. The company now supplies vehicles to Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Chandigarh and Karnataka and Maharashtra. For the past one and half years, the company’s vehicles have been on the road.
