The India based Munjals group Hero has launched the country's first ever high-speed electric bikes. Priced at Rs37,400/ the initial launch is in UP followed by other cities in the country. E-Spirit, christened as the bikes rides out, the vehicle will meet the norms of environment protection and the budget of the buyers.

With the single charge, the vehicle will run upto 65km at a maximum speed of 45km/hour. The company seeks VAT exemption from the UP government on the grounds of environment pollution safety. 11 governments have offered VAT exemption for this vehicle in the country.

According to Lohia auto, these e-bikes can go over 50 km per charge at a cost of only 10 paise a km. As the top speed of the e-bikes is limited 25km/hr, you do not need registration and license to run these bikes on road.

Unveiling the electric bikes on the inaugural day of the India International Trade Fair here, company President V. K Gupta said the e-bikes, developed with technical collaboration from Germany, were powered by 250 Watt motor rechargeable battery that could also be charged with an inverter or generator.

'To avail the benefits of the untapped Indian market, we will be investing Rs 150 crore in the next three years to expand our operations in India,' says Joe Santana, chairman, Ultra Motor. The investments would go towards new product development and marketing costs.

Ultra plans to launch five new electric scooters in India in this fiscal. Three of these would be in the low-speed segment, while the remaining two would high-speed models. The company is also working on an electric motorcycle at its R&D centre in the UK. The bike, whose performance would be comparable to a 100cc petrol-engined bike, will also be introduced in India in 2009.

[Via: Indiaautomotive]

Yamaha is expected to be the first Japanese company that'll be off the blocks with a mass-market electric bike, by 2010. Honda is likely to launch its e-bike by 2011. Suzuki, which is ready with a prototype of its fuel-cell powered bike, the Crosscage, could also launch an electric bike by 2011. However, these e-bikes will first be launched in Japan, and later, perhaps, in Europe. We don't think Japanese e-bikes will come to India in the next 3-4 years.

[Via: Indiaautomotive]

According to Avinash Bhandari, Director, Electrotherm India, they prefer to modify existing models. Their Research & Development team keeps updating technologies. The success of the 75 cc model has encouraged them to enter higher segments.

He also added that customers have accepted electric vehicle technology. Electrotherm has sold around 10,000 e-bike units in less than a year.

They have sold more than 50,000 units across the country in 2007. The company also plans to export these bikes. Initially, it will be to neighbouring countries like Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

But Hero Electric is not merely focusing on the domestic market, it is also working on exporting Electric Vehicles (EVs) to other markets. "We have set up an export team to focus on the markets of Latin America and the Middle East. We are planning to begin exports to Latin America from next year," revealed Naveen Munjal, CEO of Hero Electric.

"Our target for the current fiscal year is about 70,000 EVs," said Naveen Munjal. It is planning to sell 125,000 EVs next year. "According to current trends, the Indian EV market could grow to more than 200,000 units in 2009," estimates Naveen Munjal.

Hero is planning to launch a high speed model within the next three months. Currently, it has eight models comprising four e-scooters and four e-bikes. "We launched our new Optima Plus model in July at a price of INR 31,000 (€ 464)."