Indus secures ARAI nod for YOSpeed

Ahmedabad, Aug 25 (UNI) Indus Elec-Trans, a division of Electrotherm (India), has received Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI)'s approval for its electric vehicle ''YOSpeed''.

''YOSpeed'' will soon be launched by the company and will be available across India, Indus Elec-Trans director (operations) Avinash Bhandari told reporters here today.

The company which manufactures electric vehicles under the brand name ''YOBykes'' has at present five models -- YOSmart, YOSpin, YOTrust, YOTrend, and YOTuff and are priced between Rs 16000 and Rs 29,000, Mr Bhandari said. The prices may vary marginally across states due to VAT and transportation costs, he added.

''YObykes are battery-operated, economical, zero-pollution two-wheelers that are based on electrical technology. YOBykes can be charged as easily as a mobile phone wherever electric power connection is available and one does not require a license to ride YOBykes,'' Mr Bhandari said.

Indus has a state-of-art manufacturing facility for the hi-tech electric two-wheelers at Kachch in Gujarat. The YOBykes were conferred the ''Automotive Product of the Year 2007'' award, Mr Bhandari informed.

Although new to India, electric vehicles are very popular personal mode of transport in the developed markets such as US, Europe, Japan and China, and sale of electric vehicles are growing at a rapid pace in these markets, Mr Bhandari said.

UNI