Bike RPM » electric

Hero Electric E-Sprint Launched

rajiv — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:25:00 +0000

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.

Ultra Motor Launches 2 New Electric Scooters

rajiv — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 06:03:38 +0000

Ultra Motor Company has launched two new electric scooters in the Indian market. The Scooters Ultra Fun and Ultra Shakti are low speed models, which do not require any licence to run and are fitted with 250W motors and are priced between Rs 28,300 and Rs 31,900 (ex-showroom, Delhi).

While Ultra Shakti is designed for hilly terrains, Ultra Fun is easy to ride because of its height, size and weight and targetted at women among others. UMC has a retail network of over 175 exclusive dealerships across 17 states and in over 130 cities in the country.

[Via: motorbeam]

3 New Electric Scooters From Ultra Motors

rajiv — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:45:31 +0000

Ultra Motor Company will launch three new electric scooters in India by 2010. There is a rising demand for electric scooters in India and the company intends to cater to this demand in the country. It will launch one high end-scooter and two low priced models in India by next year. It already sells three models - Marathon, Marathon Light (low speed) and Velocity (high speed). All the models fall in the range of Rs. 18,000 - 34,000.

The new high speed model slated for the launch next year will be imported as completely-built from its mother plant in the UK. The company intends to invest Rs. 150 crores in India to increase its production capacity as well to manufacture the upcoming new low-priced models. It has already achieved a sales figure of 24,000 units in India last year which account for 22 percent of the total sale of electric vehicles in India.

[Via: cartradeindia]

Indian team wins first TTXGP

rajiv — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 08:14:37 +0000

Everyone knows that the hot favorites for the worlds first zero carbon Grand Prix at the Isle of Man are US giants Mission Motors and Brammo, who have invested millions of crisp US dollars in their electric machine and who have been working on this project for years now. To everyone's surprise, a minuscule Indian Team that started its preparation in a shed on the outskirts of London just a couple of months ago managed to top the time sheets.

Team Agni has vast experience with electric race bike, as team leader Cedric Lynch had built his first electric performance bike way back in 1981. The team had worked for months at a stretch for the TTXGP (the electric superbike GP).

This Indian took the frame of a 2007 Suzuki GSXR 600, fitted it with two Agni 95 reinforced motors and a Kokam lithium-polymer battery of 63 cells that could produce around 16 kilowatt-hours of energy.

The team claims that their e-Superbike can churn an impressive 40 to 50 bhp. So, it was no surprise that their creation was the first to complete the 37 miles course, with team rider Rob Barber riding at an average of 84.81 mph! Meanwhile, Brammo finished third and Mission Motors fourth.

Arvind Rabadia, a former newspaper delivery man worked with veteran engine developer Cedric Lynch to build the winning bike. And how much do you think the team spent on their winning bike? Nope, it's not a couple of millions, but the cost of Agni X01 was around $30,000. That's much lower than the millions spent by other entries.

Rob Barber, the TT racer who rode the Agni X01 for the TTXGP said that it feels like home as soon as you ride it. The rider says that Agni feels better and more peaceful the traditional Suzuki GSX as you can concentrate more because your eyes aren't bleeding.

The TTXGP received 60 entries from 15 countries to compete in the race. Only 16 actually landed at the starting line, out of which just nine finished the actual race.

PRO Class times
* Team Agni (Rob Barber): 26:41 (Agni Motors is indian company, building electric motors)
* Mission Motors (Thomas Montano): 33:45
* XXL (Thomas Schoenfelder): 34.07
* Brammo/Bike (Roy Richardson): 35:47
* Brammo/Bike (Mark Buckley): 35:52
* HTBLAUVA - TGM (Paul Dobbs): 41:53

Open Class times
* ManTTx Racing (Dan Kneen): 32:01
* Barefoot Motors Racing (Chris Petty): 33:35
* Electric Motorsport (Chris Heath): 36:26
* NSR - Kingston University (George Spence): 40:44

[Via: BikeIndia]

Ultra Motor to amp up India operations

rajiv — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 08:37:38 +0000

UK-based electric two-wheeler manufacturer, Ultra Motor is planning to scale up its operations in a big way. The company is working on new model launches - up to six new two-wheelers this year - and is also looking at increasing the number of its dealerships in the country to 300, up from the current 170, over the next 12 months.

Ultra Motor, which is aiming for sales of up to 55,000 units in 2009-10, is also considering the possibility of setting up a new assembly plant near Gurgaon, which may be operational by mid-2010. Last year, the company had announced it would invest about Rs 150 crore towards expansion activity in India and the new plant would be a part of that.

The market for electric bikes and scooters in India is expected to grow in a big way over the next 3-5 years. Another major player - Hero Electric - is also looking at a sales growth of 75% in the next fiscal, for which the target is 70,000 units. The company is also working on expanding its dealer network to as many as 360 outlets, up from the current 100.

However, the current generation of electric scooters are bikes - which are extremely low on power (top speed in most cases is barely 25km/h!) and have a rather limited range - are likely to have a presence only in the entry-level segment. Until much more powerful electric bikes, with longer-lasting lithium-ion batteries, make an appearance, electric bike manufacturers are likely to remain niche players.

[Via: indiaautomotive]

Lithium-ion battery tech breakthrough

rajiv — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 11:20:17 +0000

One of the things that's hampering the development of new electric cars - and the public adoption of existing ones - is the time it takes for EV batteries to recharge. With existing EVs, their batteries usually need a few hours to charge fully, while some EVs are fitted with a small IC engine that can charge the car's batteries on the run.

Now, Byoungwoo Kang and Gerbrand Ceder - researchers at MIT - have developed a new Lithium-ion battery technology that could allow electric car batteries to get fully charged in just five minutes. While explaining that technology is beyond the scope of this article, two companies are said to have licensed the technology already.

However, the MIT researchers' technology will involve a new approach to manufacturing lithium-ion battery materials, and production-ready Li-ion batteries made using the new technology are expected to be ready only by 2011-12.

[Via: indiaautomotive]

Hero Electric to launch 7 electric vehicles in 2009

rajiv — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 06:46:12 +0000

Hero Electric, the division of the branched out Hero group, is planned to introduce a collection of electric bikes during this year. Adding, it includes their initial "high speed" bike assortment within a period two months.

The company has decided to release at least seven more models in this calendar year and it encompasses two in the group of high speed, said Mr. Naveen Munjal, the managing director of Hero Electric.

Under the high speed group, the electric bikes with 25 km/hour speed are included. Further, high speed sort of Hero Electric will have the potential to cope 45 km plus speed, said Mr Munjal

Currently, the company holds about nine models in its firm comprising Maxi, Optima Plus and the lately introduced Wave. Moreover, we anticipate putting in at least seven more models in this year. Further, the company will be enlarging their dealership network, he said.

[Via: Vicky]

Ultra Motor reveals it’s plans for India

rajiv — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 15:49:18 +0000

Ultra Motor Company(UMC) has re-affirmed it's milestones for the Indian market. After successful achieving it's goals in FY07-08 the company has set a growth target of over 50% for FY08-09. The global electric vehicle company is also planning to have 180 dealerships across the India by end of March this year.

Additionally, the company is also looking forward to associations with BTL agencies to enter the semi-urban markets as a part of it's marketing strategy for FY10. UMC is planning to augment numerous BTL initiatives to support it's distribution network and increase organic growth.

According to Joe Santana, Chairman, UMC, UK, India is one of the largest two-wheeler markets in the world and hence continues to be one of the most important markets for them. Santana also said that the company will remain focused on their plans for the Indian market and are committed to grow in the electric two-wheeler market in India.

The UK-based company currently sells electric scooters for both the high speed and high range category of electric two-wheelers in India. UMC has already established the range of 'Ultra Motors' electric scooters with over 160 dealerships across 17 states.

[Via: Bike]

Electrotherm Introduced the Yoelectron E-Bike

rajiv — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 16:31:55 +0000

Electrotherm , the Engineering Company, which makes the e-bike YO Byke, has introduced an advanced model of their battery controlled two-wheeler, named as Yoelectron on 6th Jan 2009, at Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The Yoelectron is battery-operated and zero-pollution bike which is able to run up to 75km/charge.

The 250W motor vehicle with 25 kmph top-speed has been granted by the Automotive Research Ass.of India (ARAI), Pune, as said by the company. The 2 variants of this new model priced at Rs. 28500 and Rs. 29000, depending on its color scheme.

This new model is offered in seven colors. The company also has declared that the recently designed battery can be recharged within 3 to 4 hours and it has a standard shelf life of 2 to 3 years. Technology to make this especially designed battery has been imported from United States. Its special features include enhanced battery backup and modern motor - 2 things that count mainly in a performance of e-bike, as said by the company.

[Via: autoindiaforum]

Lohia Auto launches e-bikes

rajiv — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 12:50:06 +0000

Lohia auto part of Lohia group launched two new electric bikes. Lohia auto will manufacture these electric bikes at Kashipur in Uttarakhand. The two e-bikes are priced at Rs. 25,000 and Rs.35,000. The prices of the two models - Oma & Fame, were kept same and it was before the tax rebate being offered by the Delhi government

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.