Flash Electronics has partnered with Polish Group Elimen on technical grounds. Ashish Bhatia looks at the scope, expected to strengthen its mix of e-components.
High Voltage e-Motors (180 kW i 360 kW).
Flash Electronics caters to big names like Bajaj Auto, Volkswagen, Jawa, KTM, Audi, Eberspacher, BMW, Mahindra, Bosch, Nissan and Yamaha, Piaggio and Greaves Cotton. The company continues to be persistent with its EV aspirations as it was during the raging pandemic. Emerging stronger, albeit, with delays, out-of-control, it stayed put on the route of collaboration with niche EV companies. Aimed at enhancing and strengthening its EV component offerings to customers. The recent collaboration with Polish Group Elimen is a testimony to the company building a stronger foundation for its business prospects across the Passenger Vehicle (PV) and Commercial Vehicle (CV) segments. Averred Sanjeev Vasdev, Managing Director of Flash Electronics, “We are going to be the only company in India to be producing motors from four kW to 300kW along with high-end electronics.” At Flash Electronics, Vasdev stated, the focus is on enhancing the product horizon from being the first to start parts production for electric two- and three-wheelers to catering to e-buses under the ‘Make in India’ programme.
The company wants to further enhance this mix of e-components, from having a large number of parts like the traction motors, controllers, DC-DC converter and Brushless DC motors (BLDC). On the infrastructure side, the company offers private charging station cooling applications. The new partnership with the Elimen Group will aid its progress on the CV mix of e-components, in particular. With the new Polish partner offering Flash Electronics highly specialised engineers, the company is confident of developing new-generation products to meet the requirements of its Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) customers. Vasdev revealed, of these, some were already being tested by a few domestic OEMs across the PV and CV segments. The new partnership comes close on the heels of another technical collaboration with the French company ‘Energy Stone’ on Battery Management Systems (BMS). These were displayed at Auto Expo 2020. Having selected India as the exclusive manufacturing base, the company wants to meet both domestic and global sets of customer requirements.
Revenue targets and challenges
Through its mix of e-components, the company has raised its pre-Covid-19 projection of 10-15 per cent revenue contribution from the EV segment to an estimated 25-30 per cent. This translates into a total turnover of approximately Rs.100 crore, Vasdev clarified, at an estimated seven to eight per cent of the overall turnover for the company. Flash has drawn an aggressive investment plan with an additional investment outlay of Rs.150 crore over the next two years. To attain these targets, the company must overcome the semiconductor chip shortage that is a bottleneck for its peers globally too. I think by mid-2023, things should reach a certain normalisation level and then we expect the next growth phase of Flash to commence, opined Vasdev. “We will be able to go much higher on our current production volumes but are nowhere close to the scale needed to fulfil the order book as a result of the shortages,” he said. The company hopes to further tap into the design work flow of its customers as it does on electronics and BLDC motors out sourced to it for manufacturing.
Diverse offerings
With partner Askoll, the company is developing custom products in the lower segments. Claimed to be at various customers for testing, it has proposed an option to exit the respective current motor designs. This , in effect, means that the customers are working towards incorporating the Askoll motor. Vasdev explained, the company is on the verge of setting up those lines which will only be operational by the latter part of 2024 given that the current priorities centre around India-specific segments to fulfil a large order book. This entails work on a low-speed EV variant. With partner Enerstone, the company is developing a new Battery Management System (BMS) at its Pune plant to align with the new battery norms introduced by the Government of India as well as to meet global customer requirements. “It is a big boost to our plans because Enerstone is already meeting the majority of those requirements being an European company,” he mentioned. This will make Flash Electronics the first company in India to meet the complete requirements as per the BMS specifications laid down by the government and expected to come into force by April 2023. The company, as per Vasdev, will be in a position to comply with the stipulated norms as early as January 2023. Hinting at a further diversification, Vasdev concluded, “We are going to go much beyond the EV range of products to various other technologies. The company is looking at entering the advanced stages of artificial intelligence and telematics in the future too.” ACI
High Voltage Performance e-Motor controllers.
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