Save on fuel, cut carbon footprint with this e-bike

This crowd-funded electric bike, Spero, can possibly address, to some extent, the growing vehicular pollution in the city. 

Spero is designed and manufactured by Coimbatore-based Millitex Engineers. The crowd-funding campaign has raised Rs 9.59 lakh so far on the Bengaluru-based platform, Fuel a Dream. The electric bike does not need pedalling and it can reach its maximum speed of 25 km/hour in 10 seconds. 

“Most cars on the road have only person travelling in them, congesting the roads. The e-bike is an eco-friendly alternative to suit the needs of an urban commuter,” said S Manikandan, director of the company. Suitable for all terrains, Spero has five digital gears, a digital display with a speedometer, battery charge indicator and a password protect option. 

The e-bike comes in three mileage variants - e30, e60 and e100, which can run 30, 60 and 100 km on a single charge, respectively. The option of customising the mileage is also available. The battery charges from 20% to 80% in six hours and recharges to some extent when used in the bicycle mode. 

Millitex aims to enter the market in cities which are in the proposed Smart City project as they accommodate cycling tracks in their redevelopment plans. The electric bikes will roll out in over 130 cities in two years. 

“We are also planning to launch these bikes in certain universities which have a no-vehicle policy on their campus.” With special crowd-funding prices ranging from Rs 29,900 to Rs 50,900, most of the orders placed so far are from Bengaluru and Pune. 

Though much of the amount raised is through pre-orders on the site, Manikandan said that the intention of crowd-funding was more to create interest in the product and raise awareness about greener commuting options.