Battery-operated 'Yobykes' by Electrotherm

Panaji, May 19: Electrotherm (India) Limited, which has a battery-operated two-wheeler plant at Kutch in Gujarat, has recently designed and developed prototypes of futuristic and feature-rich three and four-wheelers and hybrid-electric low-floor buses.

Company director (operations) Avinash Bhandari, talking to reporters at the launch of the battery-run two-wheeler brand ''Yobykes'' in Goa today, said the prototypes have been submitted to Pune-based Automobile Research Authority of India (ARAI) for its approval.

The three-wheelers comprise electric autorickshaws for commercial purposes with sleak designs and for physically-challenged people.

The Company, he said, would also come out with two-wheelers with 25 to 80 kmph speed at the earliest.

In a few months, the Company plans to cover the entire country with service-cum-sales offices. It had launched the battery-operated two-wheelers last February in Gujarat and achieved sales of 30,000 vehicles.

Mr Bhandari, however, ruled out exports while claiming that the demand in the domestic market was huge.

He informed that the batteries take five hours to charge and run for about 70 kms at one go. The battery life is 20,000 to 25,000 kilometres. One can run 700 kilometres at a charging cost of Rs 50, considering the per unit cost of power at Rs 5. Besides, these vehicles require no registration, he said.

The Company ahd bagged the ''Automotive Product of the Year 2007'' for its value-based, customer-centric initiatives and world class technological innovations, he said.

UNI