Okinawa Autotech, a leading EV player, to launch 150km range electric bike this year

Okinawa Autotech, a leading EV player, to launch 150km range electric bike this year

Scheduled to be launched in a few months, the electric bike will have a range of 150 km on a full charge and a top-speed of over 100 kms per hour.

Bharat Forge

Gurugram-based Okinawa Autotech, one of India's largest manufacturers of electric two-wheelers, will enter the electric motorcycles segment with the launch of a bike that has top speed of 100 km per hour.

The motorcycle will be priced under Rs 1 lakh.

Scheduled to be launched in a few months the electric bike will have a range of 150 km on a full charge, a top company official said.

Okinawa joins the league of Indian and Chinese-backed startups looking to launch electric motorcycles this year.

Speaking to Moneycontrol, Jeetender Sharma, managing director Okinawa Electric Scooters said: "After the successful launch of the PraisePro electric scooter where we have got very encouraging bookings we are now looking to launch our first electric motorcycle. This will be a premium offering but we know the importance of pricing and that is why we will price it below Rs 1 lakh."

Founded in 2015, Okinawa Autotech has a technical collaboration with a Japanese company. It has eight models including derivatives on sale in India presently. The company has been able to keep localisation level of its products at more than 90 percent.

In the last financial year, the company clocked sales of 45,000 units and this year the company is targeting sales of 75,000-90,000 units. Buyers of Okinawa scooters get a subsidy of Rs 7,500 to Rs 22,000.

The electric motorcycle market has seen the entry of Micromax founder Rahul Sharma where the company Revolt Motors has launched two electric motorcycles. Benling, an India-registered Chinese company, will launch a e-bike in January. Bharat Forge-backed Tork Motors is also scheduled to launch an electric bike this year. Bharat Forge-backed Tork Motors is also scheduled to launch an electric bike this year.

Launched in early September, the Praise Pro from Okinawa is the second most expensive scooter in its line-up, at Rs 72,000. The scooter has a range of 110 km in the Eco mode and a top-speed of 70 km per hour in the Turbo mode. In January the company launched the iPraise+, its most expensive offering at Rs 1.08 lakh, having a range of 160kms and top-speed of 70km per hour.

Praise Pro is directly pitted against the 100cc-110cc scooters of Honda, TVS Motor Company and Hero Motocorp which are priced in the range of Rs 55,000-65,000.

Okinawa is setting up a Rs 200 crore manufacturing plant having a capacity of 1 million units at Bhiwadi, Rajastan. Phase-I of the operations of the new plant will be started in 2020-21. Its current factory is based in Alwar, Rajasthan.