Financial model
Projections from 1 to 100 vehicles.
Adjust the assumptions and the model recomputes every fleet size. Illustrative only — not a forecast or a promise of returns.
Assumptions
Second-hand auto price₹95,000
EV retrofit cost₹2,45,000
Down payment25%
Loan interest14%
Loan tenure36 mo
Daily rental₹550
Rental days / month₹26
Vehicle downtime6%
Driver default provision4%
Management fee10%
Asset cost / vehicle
₹3,40,000
Down payment
₹85,000
Monthly EMI
₹8,715
Monthly profit
₹-3,051
| Metric | 1 vehicle | 5 vehicles | 10 vehicles | 20 vehicles | 50 vehicles | 100 vehicles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total asset cost | ₹3.40 L | ₹17.00 L | ₹34.00 L | ₹68.00 L | ₹1.70 Cr | ₹3.40 Cr |
| Down payment | ₹85,000 | ₹4.25 L | ₹8.50 L | ₹17.00 L | ₹42.50 L | ₹85.00 L |
| Loan amount | ₹2.55 L | ₹12.75 L | ₹25.50 L | ₹51.00 L | ₹1.27 Cr | ₹2.55 Cr |
| Monthly EMI | ₹8,715 | ₹43,576 | ₹87,153 | ₹1,74,306 | ₹4,35,765 | ₹8,71,530 |
| Gross monthly revenue | ₹13,442 | ₹67,210 | ₹1,34,420 | ₹2,68,840 | ₹6,72,100 | ₹13,44,200 |
| Collected revenue | ₹12,904 | ₹64,522 | ₹1,29,043 | ₹2,58,086 | ₹6,45,216 | ₹12,90,432 |
| Operating cost | ₹5,950 | ₹29,525 | ₹58,420 | ₹1,15,040 | ₹2,81,750 | ₹5,54,500 |
| Management fee | ₹1,290 | ₹6,452 | ₹12,904 | ₹25,809 | ₹64,522 | ₹1,29,043 |
| Monthly profit | ₹-3,051 | ₹-15,032 | ₹-29,434 | ₹-57,068 | ₹-1,36,820 | ₹-2,64,641 |
| Annual profit | ₹-36,617 | ₹-1.80 L | ₹-3.53 L | ₹-6.85 L | ₹-16.42 L | ₹-31.76 L |
| Annual depreciation | ₹51,000 | ₹2.55 L | ₹5.10 L | ₹10.20 L | ₹25.50 L | ₹51.00 L |
| ROI on down payment | -43.1% | -42.4% | -41.6% | -40.3% | -38.6% | -37.4% |
| Payback period | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Utilisation | 94% | 94% | 94% | 94% | 94% | 94% |
Monthly cost heads per vehicle
Insurance
₹1,300
Maintenance
₹900
Tyres · brake liners · suspension
₹700
Motor & battery reserve
₹1,200
Unexpected repairs
₹500
GPS
₹200
Technology
₹250
Admin & ops
₹900
Depreciation is shown at 15% per year on asset value and is a non-cash charge. Admin and ops cost per vehicle reduces as fleet size grows through shared operations staff.
Model evaluation
Second-hand LPG auto → EV retrofit.
Acquire a well-maintained second-hand LPG auto, convert it to electric using an Exponent Oto retrofit kit, finance the conversion, and deploy the vehicle on daily rental to a verified driver.
Advantages
- · Asset cost is 35–45% lower than a new electric three-wheeler, so payback shortens materially.
- · Retrofit kits with rapid-charge architecture cut charging downtime and lift daily earning hours.
- · The chassis is already road-proven; only the powertrain is new, which narrows the failure surface.
- · Running cost drops from roughly ₹3.5–4.5/km on LPG to ₹1.0–1.4/km on electricity.
- · Retrofit is a capex-light way to scale: supply of used autos in Bengaluru is deep and continuous.
- · Strong ESG narrative — every conversion removes an existing combustion vehicle instead of adding a vehicle to the road.
Risks
- · Retrofit certification and RTO re-registration timelines can delay deployment revenue.
- · Residual value of a retrofitted vehicle is harder to benchmark, which affects resale and loan LTV.
- · Warranty is split between kit supplier and chassis — disputes must be contractually pre-allocated.
- · Older chassis carry suspension, brake and body wear that raise maintenance versus a new vehicle.
- · Battery health and cell degradation drive the largest single cost risk over a 5-year horizon.
- · Financier appetite for retrofit assets is still thin; rates can be higher than new-vehicle loans.
- · Driver default and vehicle misuse directly compress collections.
How to make it viable
- · Deploy only chassis under 6 years old with verified service history and clean RTO records.
- · Pre-negotiate kit warranty, service SLA and spare availability before scaling beyond 10 units.
- · Hold a battery replacement reserve from month one; do not treat it as a terminal-year cost.
- · Target utilisation above 85%; below 75% the model stops covering EMI plus reserves comfortably.
- · Keep a 1:8 replacement-vehicle buffer so downtime never idles a driver.
Scalability
The model scales in clusters of 10–20 vehicles per micro-market, each anchored to a charging or swap point and a service partner. Beyond 50 vehicles, unit economics improve through shared ops staff, bulk insurance and negotiated kit pricing — but only if driver quality control scales at the same rate.