Hero Electric to launch e-car in five years

Two-wheeler maker Hero Electric is planning to introduce an electric passenger car in the India by 2013, besides introducing battery driven three- wheeler.     

The company has also firmed up plans to expand its product portfolio in e-bikes by launching two more products in the high-speed category during the current financial year and also venturing into solar energy sector.     

"Hero is becoming green everyday. We want to be a major player in the electric transportation, in which we are investing heavily in carrying out research. In the next five years, we will be launching electric three and four wheelers here," Hero Electric Chief Executive Officer Sohinder Gill told PTI.     

The company is currently carrying out the research and working on the prototypes of the models, he added.     

Hero Electric is investing Rs 80 crore in this financial year for expansion of its storage capacities, R&D and indigenisation of technologies.     

"The passenger car will not be on the conventional battery mode as running cost is very high. We are developing it on capacitors, which can be charged instantly and can go on for longer distance," Gill said, adding the company is checking out the viability of the model in Indian condition.     

The three wheeler would be offered in limited editions with carrying capacity of fixed load, he added.     

Both the vehicles would be produced from its existing Ludhiana plant, he said.     

Hero Electric is looking to acquire companies abroad to gain technology for the electric four-wheeler.     

"... But quickly we will indigenise that," Gill said.     

The company, which has gone solo after breaking its joint venture with UK's Ultra Motors, now plans to launch two more models of its e-bikes this financial year.