Beyond Batteries: EMO Energy Vision to Become India’s Energy Platform Player
In India’s fast-evolving clean energy landscape, EMO Energy stands out as one of the rare companies bridging both mobility and stationary storage. From powering quick-commerce fleets with liquid-cooled ZenPac battery packs to building solar-integrated ZenBase systems for commercial and industrial customers, EMO is attempting what few others dare: creating a complete energy loop — from source to wheels.
But how does a young company balance the very different worlds of two-wheeler riders, e-LCV fleets, and grid-scale storage? What lessons do 40 million electric kilometers teach that no lab can replicate? And will EMO Energy remain a deep battery hardware company or evolve into a platform enabler for OEMs and grid operators alike?
We sat down with the team to dig deeper.
Inside EMO Energy’s Playbook: Mobility, Storage, and the Future of India’s Energy Ecosystem
- What’s driving your focus on both mobility and stationary storage segments? How do you balance the vastly different operational cycles, customer expectations, and sales models between fast charging packs for EVs and ZenBase systems for C&I energy storage?
At the core of both industries, the problem we are addressing is building the most efficient flow of energy. We realized there was a true need for a solution that offers unparalleled performance, reliability in various geographies, and scalability. This has been our core focus for both the mobility and storage segments. While these two segments can sometimes be quite distinct, in quick commerce, they actually merge. For instance, we are installing our liquid-cooled BESS system coupled with solar to power energy savings for dark stores, assist in peak shaving, and provide backup for our fast charging infrastructure, which charges vehicles with our battery packs. All of this is managed by AI-enabled health and energy management software, completing the entire energy loop from source to wheels.
- Your ZenPac product is heavily used in the quick-commerce segment — how do you evaluate the impact of high-frequency usage on long-term pack health and customer retention?
All our battery packs are equipped with active thermal cooling — a fluid flowing inside the battery pack to manage the temperature up to 1°C for each cell. This system creates the ideal conditions inside the pack, enabling fast charging every time while extending the cycle life. To put that into numbers, we see approximately 1% degradation every 100 cycles, compared to other packs that experience 4% degradation per 100 cycles. This ensures that the performance stays consistent for up to 4 years. After that, we repurpose the packs for our Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), which builds significant confidence in our customers.
- With the ZenRig packs scaling up to 130 KWh, what vehicle platforms (e-LCVs, off-highway, buses, etc.) have shown the strongest product-market fit so far?
We are working on several exciting projects spanning LCVs, tractors, forklifts, buses — essentially any segments requiring high cycle life with a high C-rate. These applications are showing the strongest product-market fit.
- What’s the vision behind launching the SENS analytics platform as a standalone service? Are you looking to monetize it beyond your own hardware in the future?
SENS is our AI-enabled health and energy management platform, which predicts the entire State of Health (SoH) degradation and performance at a cell level for each battery pack, forecasts predictive maintenance, and creates rider profiles. Essentially, SENS manages the deployment of assets in the field and constantly monitors their performance. While it has numerous use cases to enhance visibility into the performance of our battery packs and deployed vehicles, SENS can also work with battery packs not manufactured by us. In fact, a few projects are already underway to integrate it with third-party packs.
- You’ve deployed 8,000+ battery units and 40 million electric kilometers — what are the top 2 learnings from real-world deployment that have influenced your product roadmap?
There’s a significant difference between proving a product in the lab and on the road. It took time to build resilient and reliable products that could handle real-world usage. The top two learnings have been: 1) Make your designs foolproof, and 2) Ensure your technology is scalable.
- In your current GTM strategy, are you targeting direct relationships with OEMs, fleet operators, or ecosystem partners (like swapping infra providers)? Which channel has scaled fastest?
To establish our energy ecosystem, we are building partnerships with OEMs, fleet operators, and companies that need last-mile solutions. Each channel has its unique journey, and we have been actively working on scaling all of them over the past 3 years.
- From a financing standpoint, are you exploring energy-as-a-service or battery-leasing models? What kind of customer demand are you seeing for those vs. traditional hardware sales?
EMO is working towards becoming an energy partner by offering both energy-as-a-service and providing energy solutions to a wide array of OEMs. From a demand perspective, both models work in parallel and are meeting customer needs in different segments.
- By 2027, do you see EMO Energy evolving more as a platform enabler across OEMs and grid operators, or a deep battery hardware company with full-stack control over its verticals?
By 2027, EMO Energy will definitely be a platform player. We have invested heavily in our technology stack, with a 60-person R&D team and 10% of our revenue reinvested in R&D. We are committed to staying at the forefront of innovation in the energy industry, focusing on creating the best battery solutions in India.
As the conversation drew to a close, one theme stood out: EMO Energy isn’t chasing just “bigger batteries” it’s chasing smarter systems. From liquid cooling that slows degradation, to SENS analytics that reads the pulse of every cell, to circularity that repurposes packs into BESS, their vision seems less about selling hardware and more about earning long-term trust in an ecosystem where reliability decides survival.
By 2027, if EMO delivers on its bet to become a platform player, it could emerge as one of the few Indian companies to bridge OEMs, fleet operators, and grid operators under one energy roof. In an industry where technology often races ahead of trust, EMO is trying to build both brick by brick, cycle by cycle, charge by charge.
