Ultra Motor to launch electric motorcycles

Siddharth Patankar

Wednesday, February 22, 2006 (New Delhi):

As fuel prices go up, there is a growing interest for alternate fuels or battery operated vehicles that seems to be just what Ultra Motor Company of the UK seems keen to capitalize on.

Ultra Motors manufacture bikes which operate on electricity rather than petrol.

And that's just part of the range being introduced in India by the company which will initially launch one bicycle, one scooter and one moped by September 2006.

The vehicles are all powered by an electric motor which can be charged by plugging into an electric outlet or while on the move.

The basic running costs for the consumer work out to about 10 paise per kilometre as opposed to petrol which is roughly 65-80 paise per kilometre.

The bicycle is likely to cost between Rs 8,000-10,000 while the moped would be between Rs 12,000-14,000. The scooter will be just above Rs 16,000 at the time of launch.

Partnership venture

The company will not be manufacturing the products itself, but through partnerships it is seeking with contract manufacturers and India's two wheeler majors.

It will hand over the technology and provide service and spares support to the manufacturer it works with.

The bikes have a limited maximum speed and can run just about 100 km on a full charge, depending on the battery size.

But the company is confident that inspite of these limitations there will be many takers for these vehicles. In fact the company will also look at a three wheeler about 12-18 months from now.