The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) has become the first municipal body in India to deploy a mass electric two-wheeler mobility system.
Andhra Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu launched a fleet of 100 Limitless Electric Bikes in Vishakhapatnam on Monday, which will be used by officials of the GVMC.
The e-bikes were supplied to the state by a Hyderabad-based startup Gayam Motor Works (GMW).
The GVMC will provide these bikes to its sanitary supervisors, for their daily patrol and supervision.
The e-bikes, manufactured by GMW have a 250W Pure Sine Wave controller and a 250W motor, which are powered by a lithium-ion battery.
The specialty of these e-bikes is that they come with a combination of a smart pedal assist system with different levels of pedal assistances to give you a push. When one starts pedaling, a motor kicks in and supplies about 80% of the energy, requiring the rider to not peddle much. There is also a throttle next to the right handle, which can take you from 0-25 kmph in five seconds without having to peddle.
The running cost by replacing motorbikes with these e-bikes can be brought down from Rs 2/km to as low as Rs 0.07/km.
And even if the charge runs out, it still functions like any other bicycle, and can be pedalled to the destination.
GMW works out of Telangana-based startup incubator T-Hub and has also provided bikes to Uber’s food delivery arm UberEATS.
After its launch, the Chief Minister also took a short ride on the bike.
Collector Pravin Kumar, GVMC Commissioner M Harinarayanan and Visakhapatnam Commissioner of Police T Yoganand were also present at the launch.
With Vishakhapatnam being developed as a smart city, the Greater Vishakhapatnam Smart City Corporation also plans on deploying a public bicycle sharing system as part of their smart city initiatives to promote zero emission clean transportation. Similar initiatives will also be implemented by the state government in other cities such a Amaravati and Tirupati.