India’s First Geared EV Bike? Meet The Mind Behind The Matter Aera!

The Matter Aera is a name that will catch your attention, as it is the only electric motorcycle in the world with a 4-speed manual transmission. Here, however, we will dive a little deeper into the story, the journey of this rather unique motorcycle, and how it came itnto existence as we know it today. So, we headed to Ahmedabad to catch up with Mohal Lalbhai, Co-Founder And Group CEO, Matter Motor Works.

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Getting To Know The Mind Behind The Matter Aera

Shipranshu Pandey, Senior Correspondent, 91wheels : Can you give us a small brief about Matter?

Mohan Lalbhai, Co-Founder And Group CEO, Matter Motor Works: Our journey started back in 2019, and we started out with the idea that we really wanted to make an impact in the Indian two-wheeler space, and we definitely saw that there were a lot of scooters coming up, companies which were just starting out doing a lot of things. We realized that motorcycles, which is two-thirds of India's market, are still going largely unaddressed, and that's where we said somebody needs to come in and really solve India's problems, and with electric technology in its early stages, I mean I call 2010 the real start of the EV age.

We really wanted to kind of, go in, look at the pain points and really address customer concerns. That's how we said motorcycles, a lot of early learnings on India's weather conditions, riding conditions, India's charging infrastructure got us to making a lot of decisions around liquid-cooling, the gearbox, or the way our on-board charger works, but all in all, it's been very focused on consumers and solving real, genuine consumer problems.

SP: Introducing an electric geared motorcycle was a bold move. What inspired you to launch the first electric motorcycle with a gearbox?

ML: For us,motorcycles mean control over powertrain. Our road quality is not the best, scooters are typically urban commute vehicles. A better way of saying it is that the largest size pothole you can really go over is the size of your wheel. Motorcycles, typically the way I look at it are the SUVs of the two-wheeler world, and if you don't have control over the powertain, riding on a rough road becomes a very tricky affair. Looking at the real genuine pain points, we said without a gearbox a motorcycle in India is not a motorcycle.

SP: What battery technology are you using, and specially the liquid-cooling that you are using for your bike; it is a first for the electric motorcycle segment.

ML: There is a very simple story in how I can explain it. The summer of 2020 is when I was looking at, we got the first prototype built out. The motorcycle was parked out in the sun, as most motorcycles in this country are, I mean, we don't have dedicated parking spots for two-wheelers. Somebody in the afternoon took it out for a drive and we saw a lot of systems throwing up red, and that's when we realized that ambient temperatures are 48-49-degree Celsius, the battery inside was above 50-55-degrees. Battery safety is at 60-degree Celsius, we don't have a lot of headroom available, and that is one of the core reasons we had to introduce liquid-cooling because we really wanted to make an unapologetic EV.

We have seen a fair share of apologetic EVs in which a lot of things go wrong, but we wanted to ensure that irrespective of the weather conditions, the rider is always able to drive the vehicle whenever they want to. That's how liquid-cooling was introduced, not just for the battery. It is also on the electronics and the powertrain.

SP: What about scaling in India? You just opened your pilot manufacturing plant, deliveries have started in Ahmedabad. What is your plan for the future, for expansion in the Indian market?

ML: This month, June 2025, is when we are actually going out of Ahmedabad for the first time. We are opening up dealerships in Pune, Bangalore, Jaipur, and Delhi. From here, our intent is to scale. We are going to be starting with West and Southern India with our pure focus in the first phase, and then in the second phase moving to North and the North-East.

SP: What was the reaction of critics when you told them that you are coming up with a geared electric motorcycle? How did the riders respond to it in the initial phase?

ML: I have a very simple statement to make here - come and drive it, experience it, then let's have a talk about what you actually want vs not, and I am pretty sure today you are going to get a run on it; why don't you tell me how you feel?

SP: I am looking forward to it. What are your thoughts about competition, with the increasing competition in the EV space? What are the things that make you unique in the segment?

ML: I would like to make two points here. One,electric motorcycles are at a very, very nascent stage in India. Competition at this time helps, because a lot of awareness gets created. In the scooter space, you see about 15% penetration already. Motorcycles are almost close to zero. That's why, if you look at the industry, the average is about 5 or 6 percent. Competition at this stage would definitely help, and as you start growing and going forward, product differentiation will come in, but that is not the problem statement today. Internal combustion is the competition today, and that's how we see it.

SP: What's one myth you want to bust about electric motorcycles?

ML: Electric motorcycles are fun. They are completely unapologetic vehicles. Trust me, if you ride the Aera, the only learning curve you have is you don't have to go to a petrol station, you need to find a charging socket, that's it.

SP: Charging is still a big concern among EV buyers. What's your take on this? How are you planning to improve the charging infrastructure/ Are you planning to come up with your own charging station, or to rely on the existing ones?

ML: Two parts; a vehicle has an on-board charger, which can charge of any 5A socket, so where you charge your mobile phone, you can also charge your bike. Extension boards are completely fine, you can actually charge with convenience. We are also partnering up with companies across the country, in terms of giving access to the users in terms of charging infrastructure, but personally, the biggest bottleneck has always been that two--wheelers don't have parking, so getting dedicated two-wheeler charging infra has been a challenge.

We hope that it will start getting stabilized but today we have really worked a lot in terms of giving consumers the convenience, in the sense that if at any place you find a tubelight you can charge the Aera.

SP: Anything else you want to share with our viewers about Matter, and about your motorcycle?

ML: I think what I told you is what I am going to tell everyone, which is, come and take it for a spin, then let's start the conversation.