Crowdfunded e-bike ready to rev

At first sight, the Spero looks like a normal bicycle with a few modifications. However, once you get on the bike, no pedalling is required.

Spero is an e-bike with a pedalling option. Its development has been completely crowd-funded; the developers raised Rs 9.5 lakh. The product was launched on Friday. It has been designed and manufactured by Manikandan, a Coimbatore-based jute machinery technocrat, who claims that the bike can reach speeds of 25 kilometres per hour under 10 seconds.

“My focus was on creating an environmentally-friendly bike, which can become an alternative mode of transport for urban populations,” he said.

It has been built with locally sourced materials wherever possible. The battery has been sourced from Samsung. The motor and tyres came from companies in South Korea.

The bike will be sold in three variants depending on the range per charge — 30, 60 and 100 kilometres.

Features include a detachable battery, which can be charged through a 5 ampere socket; charging from 20 per cent to 80 per cent in 4 hours as well as charging by pedalling.

“It has a unique cruise control feature, which lets you lock the speed of the bike,” a statement from FuelADream.com said.

Speaking about the crowdfunding process, Ranganath Thota, founder of FuelADream.com, said, “Mani is one of very few people who are working on this technology in India. We hope that more people will come forward and support this project.”

Features

Pedal to recharge battery

Single charge: 100 kilometres

Gears: 5

0-25 kilometres per hour in 10 seconds

Crowdfunded e-bike ready to rev

It has been designed and manufactured by a Coimbatore-based jute machinery technocrat