Cracking the electric two-wheeler market in India is already a tough task. It’s even harder to break it with motorcycles than scooters. And trying to build high-performance electric motorcycles from India, while battling global skepticism about legacy ICE machines and EVs, is a challenge most startups would avoid altogether. Yet that’s the path Bangalore-based Ultraviolet Automotive took when it launched 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 in 40 countries, UltraViolet is preparing for its biggest volume play yet: the Tesseract electric scooter. But instead of taking it to market, the company delayed the launch to January 2027 in pursuit of something bigger.The delay, according to founders Narayan Subramaniam and Neeraj Rajamohan, was not due to cosmetic changes or software changes. It came down to physics and extracting maximum and sustainable performance.During a recent roundtable discussion, the founders let us in on what they described as one of the most important engineering breakthroughs the company has ever made. This aims to move the Tesseract to what UltraViolet claims is India’s first 100V scooter architecture.
Chasing 15 kW without compromising practicality
Initially the goal was to create a machine with the performance of a 200-250cc scooter, with practicality, fast charging capability, high thermal efficiency and maintaining global standards. In numbers, this translates to a scooter that produces 15 kW of peak power from a 4 kWh battery pack, a power-to-capacity ratio well above what is currently common in the segment. For reference, that’s about 3X more power than any other scooter in the segment. However, the challenge was that existing scooter architectures were hindering.“Scooters today operate at 50-60 volts. We realized that to deliver 15 kW continuously without compromising thermal, performance or packaging, we had to fundamentally redesign the architecture,” explained Rajamohan during the discussion.As the founders explained, while power transmission increases linearly with current, heat losses increase exponentially. Simply put, pushing significantly more power through the same voltage architecture increases heat generation, affecting performance and reliability. This forced the engineering people at the company to go back to the drawing board.
Several key subsystems had to be redesigned, including the battery pack, motor controller, thermal management system and power electronics, the company says. Moving to a 100V setup allowed UltraViolet to reduce current flow while maintaining high power output, resulting in thermal losses, longer lasting performance and faster charging capabilities.Interestingly, learning for him didn’t start with the scooter. They come 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 of earlier products. A previous generation controller that weighed about six kilograms was capable of handling about 50 kW. 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 kW, while UltraViolet claims 15 kW with its new system.This engineering effort took time, about six additional months from the company’s own entry. The timing of this transition is important because the Tesseract is expected to be the first true mass market ultraviolet product. The company says that more than 70,000 bookings have already been registered for the Tesseract.
The extended push of ultraviolet has already begun.
To prepare for this, UltraViolet is simultaneously expanding its manufacturing footprint. Its current facility is capable of supporting the production of 5,000 vehicles per month, while a larger future plant in question could eventually support significantly higher production. The company has also signed an MoU with the Telangana Government as part of its future expansion plans.
In addition, the company says it has already delivered more than 3,000 units of the X47, with volumes growing four times faster than the initial ramp-up phase of the F77. Rajmohan explained that the company is now seeing not only the traditional ICE-to-EV transition, 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 past three years has significantly improved interest from international distributors. According to the founders, many foreign distributors discovered Ultraviolet not through India itself, but through its European presence.
What the 30-city showcase taught Ultraviolet about Tesseract
Tesseract, meanwhile, has grown considerably since its first showcase last year. UltraViolet says it held public demonstrations in 30 cities, gathering consumer feedback directly from potential buyers. This impression brought a number of subtle changes, including a larger seat, thinner floorboards for better access, increased practicality and slightly revised ergonomics.
Apart from this, the scooter will also get standard, 14-inch wheels, relatively long-travel suspension, dual-channel ABS, traction control and a radar-based safety system, technologies that are still rare in India’s e-scooter segment.For now, 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.
