The electric scooter market is expected to touch 240,000 units in financial year 2009 (FY09) as compared with 110,000 in FY08, according to Naveen Munjal, MD, Hero Electric.
Petrol prices have risen to about Rs 50-53 a litre in major cities this year from Rs 42-44 a litre in 2006. The cost of running a low-speed electric scooter with 250 watt capacity, for instance, is 10 paise a kilometer.
Sales may also be helped by competition between two of the biggest rivals in the segment, including Hero Electric, a subsidiary of the Hero Group, and the Ultra Motor Company of the UK, which have announced aggressive product launches and marketing campaigns.
Recently, Hero and Ultra split from a joint marketing and technical collaboration to pursue their businesses independently.
While Hero Electric has announced that it plans to launch five new electric scooters during FY09 in the low and high-speed categories, Ultra Motor Company is also increasing its product offering from just one high-speed scooter model to five models and an entry into low-speed category by Diwali this year. The third organised player, TVS Motor, is also getting ready to launch a low-speed model later this year.
Low-speed scooters can gain maximum speed of 25 kmph an hour while high speed ones manage 40-45 kmph.
Hero Electric already has two models
