Nithin Ramesh, a third-year mechanical engineering student at the Global Institute Engineering and Technology, Bangalore, owns an electric bike, EV–Ampere V60. Initially, riding a Hero Honda Karizma felt good but after the petrol prices started shooting up he figured it wasn’t economical for him as a student to pay for a mileage of 30 km/l. Now with his V60 he can efficiently ride to college without spending about `100 everyday. “I’m not even compelled to wear a helmet! That’s the best part,” says Nithin laughingly. People actually think it’s a small vehicle and that two people can’t fit comfortably he says. “But that’s not true as I’ve even gone triple-riding with pals. I also have many people coming to me and asking for test rides,” he says proudly. Once he bought this bike, he developed an interest and liking for all electric vehicles. It inspired him to the extent that he plans to build an electric bike himself. He is now at the prototype stage and is currently working on his friend’s old Kinetic that he experiments with during his free time in the garage of his apartment.
The fun part about the vehicle he says is that it jumps as you start it and gives you great acceleration in the beginning. He has also raced his friend at peak hour. “My friend owned an Apache,” he laughs, explaining the ease of riding his V60 through traffic when compared to a powerful geared bike. He has been using the EV for about a year and a half, and within this period he has travelled about 12,000 kms within the city! “The recharging process is also really simple,” he says. “I can always stop at a friend’s place to charge it up. A two-hour charge gives me 50 km to go,” he says. He charges it by night for about 5-6 hours and is good to go by day. It works out cheaper than bus travel as it costs only about `7 to 8 rupees while charging.
— june.kamath@ mcn.christuniversity.in