The first electric motorcycle, YObyke, operated on battery power comes from the Gujarat based Electrotherm. The company hinted that it is well-equipped to provide drive-train or the battery for these motorcycles in an upgrade level. The electric motorcycle may roll out anytime and the company is relying on its technology rather than the economy. the company has delivered 75000 scooters from 2006, made from its Kutch plant which has the capacity of 28800 vehicles per year. The sale of scooter for the period of 2009-10 is 20000.
The electric scooters are powered by the alpha-weaver technology made indigenously. Previously, the company imported 1 lakh batteries from China. The proposal for the year 2010-11 is sale of 40000 vehicles. The alpha-weaver battery is noted for its increased travel range-70kms to 105kms- compared to the lead acid battery. The charging time too is reduced from 8 hours to 4 hours and weigh lesser by 6kgs than the traditional batteries. The company has 7 electric bike variants out of which two are high-speed variants. Two more scooters in the similar segment are to be introduced in 2010. The company feels that the high speed segment will constitute two-thirds of the sales in another couple of years.
KTM of Austria, known for its $13500 bike Freedie, has made the change in its engine with 30hp electric motor. This motor can yield 43Nm torque at the pick up speed of 43 miles/hr. KTM utilizes a rechargeable lithium-ion battery which will supply power to the motor, capable of recharging in 1.5 hours and run non-stop even for an hour. The market sources believes that there is potential for this electric motorcycles based on the price factor. The cost of these bikes are Rs21000-Rs47000. In 2008-09 the net sale of electric scooters was 95000 and there might be an increase of 10% in it this fiscal.