Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Saturday, Dec 25, 2004
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Saturday, Dec 25, 2004 |
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Marketing
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New Products & Services Corporate - Announcements Battery-run two-wheeler launched Our Bureau
Mr Anil Ananthakrishna, Chairman and CEO, Eko Vehicles Pvt Ltd, with the Eko-Cosmic electric two- wheeler in Bangalore on Friday. - G.R.N. Somashekar
Bangalore , Dec. 24 A TWO-WHEELER which runs on electricity was launched in Bangalore on Friday. It can seat two persons and costs Rs 25,000. Eko-Cosmic, the battery-operated electric two-wheeler can run for 50 km on a single charge and costs Rs 3 for every new charge. "Cosmic costs only Rs 3 per 50 km and can run at a maximum speed of 40 km," Mr Anil Ananthakrishna, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Eko Vehicles Pvt Ltd, which makes these vehicles told Business Line. The company had in the early eighties launched the country's first electric two-wheeler Vidyut 150. The vehicle did not however, become popular and its sales dried up. Mr Ananthakrishna said the vehicle's gel battery has been fully sealed and needs no maintenance. The vehicles come with a charger, which can be plugged into any of the electric points and needs four hours for full recharge. The life of a battery is around five years. The company is also setting up rapid battery chargers at several places in the city so as to recharge to full capacity within 10 minutes. The Karnataka Government has given the manufacturer road tax exemption and is in the process of giving sales tax exemption too. Mr Ananthakrishna said the neodynmium iron boron permanent magnet brushless DC hub motor has been integrated into the rear wheel. He said whenever the brakes are applied, the motor switches off by itself and restarts as soon as the vehicle is given the acceleration. Mr Ananthakrishna said the company has already sold 18 lakh vehicles in Finland and China. The total cost of the project was $2.2 million (around Rs 10 crore). He said a lithium-ion battery can increase the range to 100 km. However, the cost of the vehicle would shoot up by nearly Rs 30,000. "Once the volume picks up, the price of the vehicle too would come down," he said. The company expects to sell nearly 1 lakh of Eko-Cosmic within a year. The two-wheeler is available in two models. Mr Ananthakrishna said he has also offered the Karnataka Government to run electric three-wheeler autorickshaws on a rental basis to popularise the concept. The company plans to manufacture Omni-type four-wheeler cars, which can cost up to Rs 1.5 lakh sometime later next year.
More Stories on : New Products & Services | Announcements | Two/Three Wheelers
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