World's First Production Hybrid Motorcycle To Hit Market In India

bluemanlines writes "The Indian company Eko Vehicles has announced the development of the world's first production hybrid motorcycle, called the ET-120. In a short time this motorcycle will run on the Indian streets, offering about 280 miles per gallon with a top speed of 40 miles per hour."

Naturally, Not in America

[b4upoo]

Leave it to the USA not to be first in streeting high mileage motorcycles. Yes, it angers me to see other nations developing products that the US will not or can not. Supposedly we are the big assed , number one, creators of all times. Yet we constantly see product development in nations that are so poor that they are lucky not to be in starvation. What will we see next? Maybe superior electronics from Uganda or polar bears building better cars than we can.

Re:Moped, not Motorcycle

[lokedhs]

Having spent much time in urban India, I don't see the need for a motorcycle to be able to reach speeds in excess of 64 km/h. Most of your time is spent weaving through gridlocked cars.

Even going on the freeway in a car is not a high-speed endeavour. There are just too many vehicles and people.

I can see this vehicle to be a perfect option for a lot of people.

Great

[JohnnyBGod]

For less than $1000, it's a steal! I'd buy it even for $2000, if it had a better looking frame.

Re:Other venues...

[ThePhilips]

I don't really see how it's ugly, it's simply function over form; ...

I presume because most commenters here are from U.S. where cars long time ago stopped being a transportation media and have become a way to boost your ego. But I guess that is the case all over the G7 countries.

Re:Motorcycle Fuel Consumption

[drinkypoo]

However, you are missing the fact that the new bikes are much cleaner than the old ones. The old ones put a LOT of pollution into the air, where as the newer ones put up less pollution (cleaner burn), but with more CO2 due to the higher power.

And yet, the average motorbike is about 10 times more polluting per mile than a passenger car, light truck or SUV [latimes.com]. That's right, I'm polluting less in my 3/4 ton diesel pickup than one of these new Triumphs, or even a CBR or what have you.

Emissions controls for motorcycles now. Especially since the way they're actually driven, the average sportbike is not hitting even 40 mpg, especially not 2-up. I can haul four people and thousands of pounds of cargo (in addition to the thousands of pounds of truck) for around 15-18 mpg. And trust me, I make an effort not to drive. Who wants to go out and navigate through the masses of asses?

Re:Naturally, Not in America

[TheRaven64]

For most of the twentieth century, the USA invested a lot in R&D and, although they weren't always the first in the world to do things (e.g. first stored-program computer or supersonic passenger aircraft), they generally lead the way. The USA has a very large population compared to other first-world countries. The USSR and China were larger, but both had a massive underclass to support and couldn't devote, proportionally, as much to technological development. Countries like Brasil and India were sufficiently far behind in terms of technology that they could be effectively discounted. Much of Europe was at a similar standard, but the smaller populations meant that they couldn't compete in terms of scale.

If you go back to the '60s or even a bit later, it was quite unusual for the USA to not produce the first, first commercial, or best in any given category, and often they produced two or all three. Now, it is a lot less common, but there's still a perception in the USA that American innovation ought to be world leading.

Re:Motorcycle Fuel Consumption

[Shatrat]

I can haul four people and thousands of pounds of cargo (in addition to the thousands of pounds of truck) for around 15-18 mpg.

Except most of the time it's just you hauling nothing but your own ass around at 15mpg.
I drive my car any time I need to get something that won't fit in my side cases or backpack and last year I put 10,000 miles on the motorcycle and about 1,000 on the car.
As for pollution, anything a bike puts out is insignificant [guardian.co.uk].

Re:Why Hybrid but not full electrical?

[tuxicle]

There's also the issue of frequent power cuts, particularly in Bangalore where it's become almost a way of life. In many rural parts of India, power is only available for a few hours a day, just enough to run agricultural water pumps. With a hybrid, you just find the nearest petrol pump and you're good.