Breaking into the electric two-wheeler market in India is already a difficult task. It is even more difficult to cross it on a motorcycle rather than a scooter. And trying to build high-performance electric motorcycles in India while adapting to legacy ICE machines and global skepticism about EVs is a challenge that most startups would avoid altogether. Yet, that’s exactly the path Bengaluru-based Ultraviolette Automotive chose when it introduced the F77 a few years ago.Today, the company is at an interesting juncture in its journey. After establishing a presence in several European markets and certifying its vehicles in 40 countries, Ultraviolette is now preparing for its biggest volume play yet: the Tesseract electric scooter. But instead of launching it in the market in a hurry, the company has postponed the launch to January 2027 in order to do something big.According to founders Narayan Subramaniam and Neeraj Rajmohan, the delay was not caused by cosmetic changes or software changes. It remained limited to physics and achieving maximum and sustainable performance.During a recent roundtable conversation, the founders described it to us as one of the most significant engineering pivots the company has ever made. This aims to take the Tesseract to what UltraViolet claims is India’s first 100V scooter architecture.
Chasing 15kW without compromising practicality
The goal initially was to create a machine with the practicality, fast charging capability, high thermal efficiency and performance of a 200-250 cc scooter while maintaining global compliance standards. In numbers, this means that a scooter produces 15 kW of peak power from a 4 kW battery pack, a power-to-capacity ratio that is significantly higher than usual in the segment currently. For reference, that’s almost 3 times more power than any other scooter in the segment. The challenge, however, was that existing scooter architectures were hindering.“Scooters these days run on 50-60 volts. We realized that to deliver 15 kW continuously without compromising on thermals, efficiency or packaging, we would have to fundamentally redesign the architecture,” Rajmohan said during a conversation.As the founders explained, while power delivery increases linearly with current, heat loss increases exponentially. In simple terms, pushing significantly more power through the same voltage architecture increases heat generation, impacting efficiency and reliability. This forced the company’s engineering people to go back to the drawing board.
The company says several critical sub-systems had to be redesigned, including the battery pack, motor controller, thermal management system and power electronics. Moving to a 100V setup allowed UltraViolet to reduce current flow while maintaining high power output, resulting in lower thermal losses, consistent performance, and faster charging capabilities.Interestingly, this lesson was not learned from the scooter. They came from the company’s high-performance motorcycle projects such as the F77 and even the extreme F99 racing platform.
Packing 15 kW in a compact controller
Rajmohan demonstrated this by comparing motor controllers to earlier products. The previous generation controller, weighing about six kilograms, was capable of handling about 50 kilowatts. The latest compact controller developed for Tesseract is smaller and lighter, while still enabling significantly higher power density. According to the company, similarly sized controllers in mainstream scooters currently handle around 3-5 kilowatts, while Ultraviolette claims to extract 15 kilowatts from its new system.That engineering effort took time, about six additional months by the company’s own admission. The timing of this change is significant as the Tesseract is expected to be Ultraviolette’s first true mass-market product. The company says that more than 70,000 bookings have already been recorded for the Tesseract.
Ultraviolette’s expansion campaign has already begun
To prepare for this, UltraViolet is simultaneously expanding its manufacturing footprint. Its current facility is capable of supporting production of up to 5,000 vehicles per month, while a larger future plant under discussion could eventually support significantly higher production. The company has also signed an MoU with the Government of Karnataka as part of its future expansion plans.
Additionally, the company says it has already delivered more than 3,000 units of the X47, with volume growing four times faster than the initial ramp-up phase of the F77. Rajmohan explained that the company is now seeing not just traditional ICE-to-EV migration, but also EV-to-EV switching, where customers are moving from electric scooters to high-performance electric motorcycles.Interestingly, the company says that its visibility at motorcycle events like EICMA over the last three years has significantly improved interest from international distributors. According to the founders, many foreign distributors discovered UltraViolet through its European presence rather than India.
What the 30-city showcase taught Ultraviolet about the Tesseract
Meanwhile, the Tesseract has evolved significantly since its first appearance last year. UltraViolet says it held public showcases in 30 cities, and collected consumer feedback directly from potential buyers. That feedback led to several subtle changes, including a larger seat, thinner floorboard for better access, increased practicality, and slightly revised ergonomics.
Additionally, the scooter will also have 14-inch wheels as standard, relatively long-travel suspension, dual-channel ABS, traction control and radar-based safety system, technologies that are still rare in India’s e-scooter segment.Currently, the Tesseract is undergoing an extensive four-month advanced road testing and validation phase before production. The company is targeting a January 2027 launch, with deliveries and on-road presence expected in the first quarter of 2027.
