Eco-Friendly electric bikes are the future to curb environmental pollution and rising costs of fuel. Of course, they are eco-friendly only until we use renewable resources of energy like solar, wind, and hydro-electricity. But a lot of people are giving up their gasoline-powered machines and opting into the electric scooters. But, electric scooters are still expensive and to offset the cost of purchase and fuel, the Government Of India has been giving subsidy to the manufacturers of electric vehicles under its new Faster Adoption and Manufacture of hybrid and Electric vehicles) FAME II scheme.
According to the FAME II scheme, in order to avail incentives, the Original Equipment Manufacturers are required to have at least 50% of the parts ex-factory value under localisation, except for buses. Once they are certified by the authorities, such as ARAI (Automotive Research Association of India) under Rule 126 of CMVR (Central Motor Vehicle Rules), they are eligible to receive an incentive of INR 10,000 per kWh (kilo Watt hour).
One such electric bike manufacturer to receive a subsidy under the FAME II scheme is Okinawa Scooters. The Okinawa i-praise and Ridge+ electric scooters both use a lithium-ion battery pack and have at least 50% of their parts locally manufactured and have a top speed of at least 40 kmph and a minimum range of 80 km per full charge. These criteria’s must be met to receive the FAME II subsidy.
The Okinawa i-Praise is powered by a 2,500 watt, water-proof, brushless DC motor with a 2.9 kWh battery pack which can provide a real-world range of 160 to 180 km on a single charge. The bike takes 2 to 3 three hours to recharge and also has regenerative braking capability. The bike has a top speed of 75 kmph. The i-Praise receives features like disc brakes on both wheels, telescopic front forks, tubeless tyres, LED headlights, digital instrument cluster, aluminium alloy wheels, USB smartphone connectivity, etc.
The Ridge+ is powered by a 1,200 watt, DC brushless motor, with a 1.75 kWh lithium-ion battery pack which can give a range of 90 to 100 km on a single charge and a top speed of 55 kmph. The electric scooter comes with smartphone connectivity and Okinawa Eco App.
The Ridge+ costs INR 76,290 ex-showroom and the top-spec i-Praise costs at INR 1.16 ex-showroom. The electric scooters will receive a subsidy of around INR 17,000 to INR 26,000 depending on the kWh.
The Government Of India aims to sell 1 million electric bikes in the next three years.