This e-bike is crowd-funded

Spero, the e-bike, was launched in Bengaluru on Friday

July 08, 2016 06:36 pm | Updated October 18, 2016 02:47 pm IST - Bengaluru

The first crowd-funded e-bike Spero was launched in Bengaluru on Friday. Photo: K. Murali Kumar

The first crowd-funded e-bike Spero was launched in Bengaluru on Friday. Photo: K. Murali Kumar

At first sight, the Spero looks like a normal bicycle with a few modifications. However, once you get on it, there is no pedalling required. On Friday, Spero, an e-bike, was launched in the city.

The e-bike has been completely crowd-funded and the campaign has raised Rs. 9.5 lakh so far, which is the highest for FuelADream.com, the funding platform.

Designed and executed by Manikandan, a Coimbatore based jute machinery technocrat, the bike can reach speeds of 25 kilometres per hour under 10 seconds, according to the maker. “My main focus was creating an environmentally friendly bike that can become an alternate mode of transport for urban populations,” said Mr. Manikandan.

The bike will be sold in three variants in which the range per charge is 30, 60 and 100 kilometres. Built with locally sourced materials wherever possible, the Spero has a battery sourced from Samsung. The motor and tyres have been sourced from companies in South Korea.

Other features include a detachable battery that can be charged through a 5 ampere socket, charging from 20 per cent to 80 per cent in four hours, as well as a feature that lets you charge the battery by pedalling. “There is a unique cruise control feature, which lets you lock the speed of the bike. It has five gears,” a statement from FuelADream.com said.

Speaking about the crowd-funding process, Ranganath Thota, founder of FuelADream.com, said, “Manikandan is one of the very few people working on this technology in India and we hope that more people will come forward and support this project through the platform.”

The bike will be priced between Rs. 29,900 for the basic model and Rs. 50,900 for the top-end model with a 100 km range per charge.

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