AUTOMOBILES,,Fuel-less Biking

Fuel-less Biking

Electric cars sure make news, but it is electric bikes that are already cruising rural India. The rise in fuel prices must have something to do with it, of course, but the trend to ride green, which swept Europe in the 1990s, appears to have finally arrived in India.

Gujarat-based Electrotherm (India)’s Yobykes are selling fast in tier-II cities such as Surat and Nasik; they lead the electric two-wheeler market with over 50,000 units sold so far. If Hero Cycles counts the noise-free 250-watt motor Ultra Maxi as its bestseller, the TVS Group’s Teenz, priced at Rs 20,000-Rs 35,000, is focused exclusively on teenagers and women. Meanwhile, the latest entrant, Murugappa Group’s Tube Investments of India (TII), is launching its electric bikes under the BSA brand in Kerala shortly.

Electric bikes need neither a licence nor registration, making them as easy to own as a bicycle. “The trend has caught on and we will see more innovation and style in electric bikes in India,” says Avinash Bhandari, joint managing director and group CEO of Electrotherm.

An ACNeilsen report says the market for electric vehicles in India is expected to grow from about 200,000 units at the end of last year to 490,000 units by March 2009. As for power outages, there is the nuclear deal now. The timing couldn’t be better.