Oxfordshire-based EV company Saietta Group targets Asian rickshaw market

By Stephen Emerson

1 September 2023

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Saietta Group have completed the development of an all-new Vehicle Control Unit aimed at lightweight vehicles in Asia.

The electric drivetrain specialists, based in Bicester, are collaborating with HCLTech of India to build the units which will be targeted at three- and four-wheeled lightweight electric vehicles (LEVs) in Asia.

A VCU is the 'brain' of a vehicle and they are standard components in cars to manage key vehicle systems such as torque control, battery energy management and regenerative braking.
The VCU ensures that all of these systems work in harmony, are effective and safe.

Lightweight vehicles in Asia, such as rickshaws powered by internal combustion engines, have a simplistic electrical architecture, negating the need for a VCU.

However, while LEVs bring many advantages to Asia, their electrical architecture is more complex, having to control functions such as how electrical energy is fed into the traction motors, managing the health of on-board batteries and optimising the charging process.

Saietta believes that future legislation and customer demand for a more refined driving experience will mean that VCUs become the norm in LEVs across Asia.

The company therefore co-developed a highly modular VCU with HCLTech which can ultimately be set up to optimise the operation of a complete electric powertrain, managing the operation of the motor, controller, transmission, batteries, and the battery charging process as well as multiple other critical vehicle functions.

The VCU will be manufactured in India by Saietta VNA, a joint venture between Saietta Group and Padmini VNA.

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The first units will be delivered as part of complete eDrive solutions to one of the largest three- and four-wheel LEV manufacturers in India.

The eDrive supply arrangement, previously announced on 6th December 2022, will see a minimum of 80,000 complete systems delivered over the first five years of the agreement and deliveries are on track to commence in Q4 2023.

Tony Gott, Executive Chairman and Interim Chief Executive Officer, Saietta Group plc, said: "As with all elements of our leading-edge eDrive solutions, the VCU is designed to be cost-effective for Asia and is highly modular. This allows our engineers to tailor the functionality precisely to a customer's requirements and thereby deliver a competitive edge."

"Saietta seeks to work with the very best partners who have a proven track record of delivering insightful innovation at the required scale, on time, on cost and on quality and we view HCLTech clearly as such an industry leader. We are honoured to work alongside them and look forward to evolving this relationship and together helping clean up the air in mega-cities globally."

By Stephen Emerson

Stephen Emerson is the Managing Editor of The Business Magazine and is responsible for the publication's print publications and online properties including the newly launched Biz News websites in Hampshire and Dorset.

Stephen has been a journalist for 20 years and has worked at local, regional and national publications and led a team which made The Scotsman website one of the fastest growing news sites in the UK with over eight million monthly users.

He has a keen interest in technology, property and corporate finance and telling the stories of the people behind the successful firms in these sectors.