The number of electric two-wheelers in India is increasing at a faster rate than ever before. With companies like Ather Energy, which already has gained quite some grip in this segment, mainstream brands are also showing interest - TVS has its iQube and Bajaj launched its Chetak. Now, it is Hero MotoCorp, one of the largest two-wheeler manufacturer in the country, which is developing an eMaestro electric scooter to enter the growing segment.
Hero eMaestro will be the brand’s first electric scooter. It is still in its concept stage and Hero MotoCorp hasn’t released any details about the same. However, we do know that it will be based on the Hero Maestro Edge 125 and borrow a handful of design and styling elements from it. The company will add some aesthetic features to differentiate the eMaestro with its conventional counterpart, and one of them will be red-coloured alloy wheels.
Some of the other key features of Hero eMaestro would include a large fully-digital instrument console, powerful lithium-ion battery pack and permanent magnet motor. We wouldn’t be surprised to see a dedicated mobile application that would allow the owners to gain access to various functions like geofencing, odometer, remaining battery, etc. Regarding the pricing, it is being expected that Hero MotoCorp would try to keep it under Rs 1 lakh mark (ex-showroom).
It’s good to know that Hero MotoCorp is taking progressive steps in the electric two-wheeler segment. Dr Pawan Munjal, Chairman, Hero MotoCorp, announced at the recently concluded Hero World 2020 event that the brand will invest INR 10,000 crore towards the next generation of mobility solutions and develop the technology needed in the next 5-7 years.
We would like to clear the doubt that Hero MotoCorp and Hero Electric are different entities and develop their products independently. As far as Hero eMaestro electric scooter is concerned, it will be a product of Hero MotoCorp’s R&D hub, Centre of Innovation and Technology (CIT), Jaipur, which has worked on over 150 product lines (including variants) so far and achieved BS6 compliance for Hero's existing range.
Also Read: BS-VI Hero Destini 125 with new colour scheme launched at INR 64,310
Hero MotoCorp might be a bit late to enter the electric two-wheeler segment but as they say better late than never, right? And that’s alright because this is still quite a fresh space.
[Source: auto.ndtv.com]
