The Hindu Business Line : Hero-Ultra plans slew of e-scooter launches

New models: Mr Vinay Munjal, Managing Director, Hero Cycles Ltd (left), with Mr Ian Woodcock, Chairman, Ultra Motor Company, UK, unveiling new electric scooters ‘Velociti and Optima’, in the Capital on Wednesday.

Our Bureau

New Delhi, Oct. 10 Hero Cycles, with its joint venture company, the UK-based Ultra Motors, plans a slew of launches in the electric scooters segment to address the burgeoning market for such vehicles in India.

The joint venture company which is likely to come into effect from January 2008 — Hero Ultra Pvt Ltd — would launch three e-scooters in the coming six months.

These are likely to be high-powered scooters with a maximum speed of 100 km/hr from its current maximum of 70 km/hr, said Mr Joe Bowman, CEO, Ultra Motors, at the launch of its two scooters on Wednesday.

First take

Further, India would be the first country where Ultra Motors would launch its hybrid three-wheeler that would be operated on battery with a CNG or diesel variant.

“We would like to launch our hybrid three-wheeler in the coming 12-15 months. This is mainly due to the homologation process which would take time,’ said Mr Bowman.

The company introduced two electric scooters — Velociti and Optima — priced at Rs 29,000 and Rs 34,000 respectively.

Currently, the company has six electric scooters priced in a range of Rs 14,400 onwards.

“We are targeting to sell 60,000 units this fiscal,” said Mr Deba Ghoshal, Ultra Motors Director-Marketing (India).

The company currently has 57 Hero Ultra dealers in the northern and western regions of the country and plans to take its dealer network to 150 outlets by the end of this fiscal.

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