Cracking the electric two-wheeler market in India is already a difficult task. Cracking it with motorcycles instead of scooters is even harder. And trying to build high-performance electric motorcycles from India, while taking on legacy ICE machines and global skepticism around EVs, is the sort of challenge most startups would avoid altogether. Yet that is precisely the path that Bengaluru-based Ultraviolette Automotive chose when it debuted the F77 a few years ago.Today, the company finds itself at an interesting point in its journey. After establishing a presence in several European markets, certifying its vehicles across 40 countries, Ultraviolette is now preparing for its biggest volume play yet: the Tesseract electric scooter. But instead of rushing it to market, the company has delayed the launch to January 2027 in pursuit of something larger.That delay, according to founders Narayan Subramaniam and Niraj Rajmohan, was not caused by cosmetic changes or software tweaks. It came down to physics and extracting maximum and sustainable performance.During a recent roundtable interaction, the founders walked us through what they described as one of the most significant engineering pivots the company has undertaken so far. This is aimed at moving the Tesseract to what Ultraviolette claims is India’s first 100V scooter architecture.
Chasing 15 kW without compromising practicality
The target, initially, was to create a machine with the performance of a 200-250cc scooter, while retaining practicality, fast charging capability, high thermal efficiency and global compliance standards. In numbers, that translates to a scooter producing 15 kW of peak power from a 4 kWh battery pack, a power-to-capacity ratio that is substantially higher than what is currently common in the segment. For reference, this is nearly 3X more power than any other scooter in the segment. The challenge, however, was that existing scooter architectures were becoming the bottleneck.“Scooters today operate at up to 50-60 volts. We realised that to consistently deliver 15 kW without compromising thermals, efficiency or packaging, we had to fundamentally redesign the architecture,” explained Rajmohan during the interaction.As the founders explained, while power delivery rises linearly with current, heat losses rise exponentially. In simple terms, pushing significantly higher power through the same voltage architecture increases heat generation, affecting efficiency and reliability. That forced the engineering folks at the company to go back to the drawing board.
The company says that several critical subsystems had to be redesigned, including the battery pack, motor controller, thermal management systems and power electronics. The move to a 100V setup allowed Ultraviolette to reduce current flow while maintaining higher power output, resulting in lower thermal losses, sustained performance and faster charging capability.Interestingly, the learnings for this did not originate from scooters. They came from the company’s high-performance motorcycle projects such as the F77 and even the extreme F99 racing platform.
Packing 15 kW into a compact controller
Rajmohan demonstrated this by comparing motor controllers from earlier products. A previous-generation controller weighing nearly six KGs was capable of handling around 50 kW. The latest compact controller developed for the Tesseract is smaller and lighter while still enabling significantly higher power density. According to the company, similar-sized controllers in mainstream scooters currently handle roughly 3-5 kW, whereas Ultraviolette claims to have extracted 15 kW from its new system.That engineering effort took time, roughly six additional months by the company’s own admission. The timing of this transition is significant because the Tesseract is expected to become Ultraviolette’s first true mass-market product. The company says more than 70,000 bookings have already been registered for the Tesseract.
Ultraviolette’s expansion push has already begun
To prepare for that, Ultraviolette is simultaneously expanding its manufacturing footprint. Its current facility is able to support production of up to 5,000 vehicles per month, while a larger future plant under discussion could eventually support significantly higher output. The company has also signed an MoU with the Karnataka government as part of its future expansion plans.
Besides, the company says it has already delivered over 3,000 units of the X47, with volumes growing four times faster than the F77’s initial ramp-up phase. Rajmohan explained that the company is now seeing not only traditional ICE-to-EV migration, but also EV-to-EV switching, where customers are moving from electric scooters to higher-performance electric motorcycles.Interestingly, the company says its visibility at motorcycle events like EICMA over the past three years has significantly improved international distributor interest. According to the founders, many overseas distributors discovered Ultraviolette through its European presence rather than through India itself.
What 30-city showcase taught Ultraviolette about the Tesseract
The Tesseract, meanwhile, has evolved considerably since its first showcase last year. Ultraviolette says it conducted public showcases across 30 cities, gathering direct consumer feedback from prospective buyers. That feedback led to several subtle changes, including a larger seat, slimmer floorboard for improved accessibility, increased practicality and slightly revised ergonomics.
Besides, the scooter will also feature, as standard, 14-inch wheels, relatively long-travel suspension, dual-channel ABS, traction control and radar-based safety systems, technologies that are still rare in India’s e-scooter segment.For now, the Tesseract is undergoing an extensive four-month advanced road testing and validation phase ahead of production. The company is targeting a January 2027 launch, with deliveries and on-road presence expected in the first quarter of 2027.
