As India’s EV landscape accelerates with innovation and demand, Matter is at the forefront of redefining mobility with its revolutionary electric motorbike, the AERA. In an exclusive conversation, Mohal Lalbhai, Founder and CEO of Matter, dives deep into the company’s vision for India’s EV future, the engineering behind the country’s first geared electric motorcycle, and how Matter plans to scale sustainably while shaping a smarter, greener commute for millions. From energy efficiency and local manufacturing to software-defined vehicles, Lalbhai shares a roadmap that goes far beyond the AERA.
So, I don’t think Indian road conditions have anything to do with it, but it’s not easy to put in a motor and a gearbox where. I’ll give you a different example. Engines operate at low RPM and low torque at some RPM, then peak in torque, and then come back down.
Motors start at max torque at 0 RPM. So on a standstill, I’m giving max torque. So, my gear teeth profiles, gear teeth hardenings, gear teeth design, and gear design had to be re-examined. So the way to make a parallel comparison is on a 200cc motorcycle; I would have had to design a gearbox worthy of a 600cc just to handle that torque without motion. Once the gears are in motion, torque transfer becomes much easier; however, what I’m referring to is essentially zero torque.
I think in the first two years we burnt about 250 clutches. The clutch couldn’t take the torque because, even though the clutch is a wet type, we eventually came down to an assistant slip. But why? It would burn because even some torque at stationary kills it.
So we had to fine-tune the assistant slip, fine-tune the gears, re-engineer, re-engineer, re-engineer quite a few times. So this is on the gearbox side. Motor had to be designed to work with the gear ratios.
Technically, what people do is have an engine, which is a limiting factor; then, you make a gearbox, and finally, you get your output. Here, the gearbox is a limiting factor due to the mechanical properties of the materials.
By changing ratios, I can adjust the torque. So, we really had to start with the gearbox, optimise the motor, and then go in and optimise even the controls, because if you think about it, there is engine braking.
In an ICE vehicle, the piston will start seizing up. In an EV motor, it is never going to seize; it simply sends more current back to the battery. You can double down shift. In a petrol bike, it will give you a jerk.
A triple downshift might throw you off and damage the engine. Here, that is also possible, but here it will damage the battery. So, we had to install more electronics to protect. I mean, we’re still okay after the double down shift today.
However, customers need to know that this is not something to be done, but we also cannot create a product that fails the first time a customer tries it. So engineering these things is probably three years old. So it’s been a journey.
It’s not been easy.
What kind of rider did you have in mind when developing the AERA 5000+?
We were looking at typical 150-200cc motorcycle user because this product is catered to them mix city and highway driving. The vehicle does a range of about 170 IDC, so about 125 real world. Intent is to give this to people so even on motorcycles the most extended daily use is about 70 kilometres to ensure we cover those, put this into the aspiration bucket.
Most people who end up buying these today are young enough that I don’t think they’ve ever seen a BlackBerry. They’re the smartphone babies in a way, as they understand the connectivity and touch features, making it more intuitive for them to use.
The reason for giving them a gearbox again is they have ridden motorcycles. For them it felt like moving to a scooter, moving to a motorcycle without a gearbox. So the gearbox does help them avoid the feeling of a glorified scooter. It’s real. You shift down and throttle up; you will see a characteristic change.
So that makes sense. So, it’s a young digital native kind of customer who is the primary focus the 18 to 25-year-old or 18 to 26-year-old.
Tell us more about the in-house tech powering the AERA. What makes Matter’s powertrain different?
So the better part of six years we have spent on technology itself. We have over 500 team members working on core R&D. There’sn’t a single component on the vehicle that we haven’t designed. Everything, from the battery to the electronics, motors, gearboxes, and software, is controlled by us.
What this does is give us the ability to control the system in a way that nobody else can. And in the truest sense, these are what you would call software-defined vehicles. The platform is the software.
And then, I mean, but by software, you still need the underlying hardware; however, it’s all software-first logic that controls the vehicle. So it’s very new. I mean, a lot of model-based design, a lot of stuff which has gone into this vehicle is cutting edge as far as even four wheelers are concerned.
So as far as stack is concerned, we are at the forefront, completely designed in India by Indians, for Indians. And the best part is we only import cells, magnet semiconductors, the chips themselves.
These three things India doesn’t make. Additionally, we are 100% locally owned. So that’s the nutshell on this one.
How does Matter plan to tackle range anxiety in a market that’s still adapting to EVs?
I was discussing earlier today the number of 70-800 million smartphone users. Means I have 7-800 million charging stations. I just need to be able to tap into that socket. So I’ll show it to you. It’s just a loop of wire.
No brick, nothing. One side goes into the 5-amp socket, and the other onto the bike. Think of it the same way. Think of it in larger type C. Now, coupled with this range already which is more than what people on travel, charge it anywhere.
At a PCO, if they still exist. At a Kirana store, on an extension board. Do whatever. You are now free. There is nothing else which is stopping you. And no brick will be stolen. There is nothing else that is going to be an issue.
There is nothing that’s going to get wet. I mean, think of it. Even in the rain, the extension board still charges your bike. That’s the easiest example. I mean, it can visually give you a representation of the freedom you have.
That, for us, is the most significant, biggest piece of the puzzle that we have solved.
Where do you see Matter in India’s EV ecosystem 5 years from now? Just bikes or a larger mobility vision?
For us, we are currently at 200cc. We’ll move to 150, 125 cc on this M1 platform, which is our fixed battery platform. We are referring to a swappable battery in the 125cc and 150cc models. This is five products, which means five years have gone by.
So, they will have variants and slight changes, but the next five years will be pure focus on motorcycles. Does that mean we don’t have ambitions for after? We do, but today is not the time to talk about a six to ten year plan.
The next five years, clear focus, motorcycles. There are enough products that this country needs, and we still have to produce and get them off the road.