[lapis_lazuli]

Let's stop bashing the efforts. It's a perfectly valid product with its own use cases. Pedelec? Quite popular in many geographies, for example. How it looks, that's a different matter of course.
The reason is the L1 classification of vehicles that can be made street legal with the electronics on board realized around industrial grade components (non AECQ100/200) and not so stringent ARAI or ICAT certification. Anything else would require mandatory automotive grade components with a altogether different benchmark and certification processes for being street legal. Those are expensive also. The battery pack ICAT certification is also simpler and the peak current requirements from the battery, easily manageable. Cheap LifePO4 batteries may be used with a fairly long service life. It's not about speed and wow all the time.

https://icat.in/information/reckoners

In a country of 140 crores there's a peaceful coexistence of jugaad trikes to Teslas! And everything in between.

[Cessna182]

This is a good vehicle for those who want their kids to use an Activa without a license. I know two wheelers are dangerous on the road but for many parents they are the only option. They cannot afford an Uber or a driver all the time to send their kids to tuition/college/other activities. Instead of giving them an Activa or a bike, this is safer. Public transport is non existent in most non-metro cities.

The highway rules should make sure that such vehicles cannot go through any toll plaza. That can reduce the risk.

[bigron]

If I see this on the road doing 25 kmph my first impression would be, someone made a cafe racer in their back yard. I can see many commuters honking the rider of this to get aside or move fast not realizing they are actually tailgating a cycle.

Even in our crowded cities there are enough times when you can actually speed up between light stops, or are the first one at the stop and have a clear way ahead.. This would just be slowly coasting whether traffic or no traffic. Also, try convincing a college goer or even a high school kid to get one of these after he is told it only does 25 kmph. Enough used Activas on sale at less than half the price and are cheap to run and maintain.

The only area where I can see this working are closed compounds where normal vehicular traffic is not allowed or is restricted. Even then, the visuals are a stark opposite to what one can achieve on this.

You can get one for shits and giggles for the way it looks but other then that I dont see this working.

[fiestarry]

It is not as though all users will be driving on the highway and holding up miles of traffic; it will be convenient for city use and other short commutes.
In fact such non polluting forms of transport should be encouraged; I wonder why the animosity!

[tarik.arora]

I think this e-cycle has been over designed to look like a bike (a cafe racer at that). In addition, the guy sitting in the first image seems to be wearing a riding jacket. All this does not go with the product specifications, that's about it. Rest, I assume is an honest effort.

[landcruiser123]

Would have been perfect if cities had bike lanes. But Indian cities don't have the traffic infrastructure nor the discipline to safely ride these vehicles.

Many people use e-bikes (of different shapes) in California . As long as their top speed is 25mph, these don't require a license or registration and should be mostly ridden on the bike lane. (Expect where cyclists are required to share the road)

Originally Posted by RedTerrano

With a Li-On battery pack, I cannot imagine how they are able to manage that. From what I understand price is the major hurdle when it comes to Li-On batteries.

My guess this vehicle might be exempt from excise and other taxes too.

[.HEM]

If I had a kid who wants a bike to go to his school and evening tuitions, I will buy one for him. I know the Kid won't be pleased with this, but the dad can still be confident the kid can't show stunts with his bike

[drrajasaravanan]

Originally Posted by .HEM

If I had a kid who wants a bike to go to his school and evening tuitions, I will buy one for him. I know the Kid won't be pleased with this, but the dad can still be confident the kid can't show stunts with his bike

Hi
I think the kids nowadays are more savvy and will opt for a electric bicycle which will carry a lot of oomph factor than this. Cheers

[Predator_ONE]

From the title: "The Atum 1.0 Electric Motorcycle - Max speed of merely 25 kmph" & the image below it reading: "300 have been booked" I got the impression that 300 owners have been "booked" (as in apprehended) for overspeeding or something. Comedy of misperceptions....

[invincii]

This reminds me of the Yulu electric bike, which is perfect for short urban commutes (less than 20 km). However, I don't see a point of owning one; a renting or subscribing model might work well with designated parking cum charging stands.
This is a niche product at the current stage; it can be used by college/school going students, good for grocery shopping, intra-campus commutes (in Big Campuses, IITs, Infy campuses, Airports, etc), can become a good case.

[aniketi]

Originally Posted by GTO

In all seriousness, such a vehicle should never be allowed on public roads. 25 kmph is ridiculous - even for city use. It's the kind of bike which will hold up everyone else behind on something like Marine Drive which has a speed limit of 60 kmph.

Luckily, I have a feeling that the Atum will be a rare sight on our roads (if at all) due to the ridiculous top speed, and the fact that Atum is an unestablished startup.

On slopes, it can go much faster Just kidding.

On serious note, the price is very attractive for the range they are offering. Top speed should at least be 50-60 KMPH. 25 KMPH is too less and would create problems on road and while overtaking. These kind of efforts will make sure that we will get better options in future at reasonable price.

[T-Bone]

Originally Posted by GTO

In all seriousness, such a vehicle should never be allowed on public roads. 25 kmph is ridiculous - even for city use. It's the kind of bike which will hold up everyone else behind on something like Marine Drive which has a speed limit of 60 kmph.

I TOTALLY disagree to your statement. My wife and I, have been using Hero Photon+ (running on Lead-Acid) for about 6 years and have NEVER faced any such traffic hold up issues. It is perfect for city usage as overall average speed is below 30kmph anyways. Got this bike primarily for my wife for picking up kids from school but it is now an all rounder. In fact I use it to ride to my office when ever school is closed (Summer/Christmas/Diwali). I stay at Bommanahalli and travel to Electronic City to office. Have also driven from Bommanahalli to Bande Bommasandra, via Marathahalli > Tin Factory > Hennur (about 35km) and done this trip many times but never faced any traffic hold up issues.

Below are few simple rules we follow-
1. Always stick to extreme left of the road.
2. If you need to take a right turn ahead, then you start moving to right lane well before the turning spot.
3. Never cut into traffic as guy behind will definitely ram into you as you are at low speed and he/she will not be aware of it.

Biggest advantage I see is that the electronics are minimal. No cloud funda, no OTA updates, No regular service required and no maintenance required. In these 6 years I had given the bike for service only during the first year after which NO maintenance was done and is still running strong (touch wood).

My wife can't even push around an activa (or the likes). Also, she learnt to drive using this one (she does not know to cycle as well). So this a perfect bike for ladies like her as the bike is very light and easy to handle.

Issues faced: Once, we did not use the bike for about three months which caused batteries to bulge hence had to replace it. Got the batteries directly from supplier which helped me save about 5k. So, other than self induced damage to the batteries, No other mechanical/electrical failures.

Lastly, such bikes are of great boon for people like me who want's to contribute to the environment but can't afford too much as well.

[nishsingh]

I was looking to diss this, but it actually looks like a decent effort with a decent pickup.

The top speed seems to be around 40Km/h as per the video, but the reviewer does mention 25km/h as the top speed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvRd9FbkISU

To be honest, I am impressed. Good effort by a homegrown company, but the future remains uncertain I guess.

[TrackDay]

25 km/hr on a public road ! Just imagine the risks associated with it. Attempts at saving the environment by using this thing will cause a lot of noise pollution due to the trailing traffic stuck behind it !

This is probably what is going to happen !

[jassi_jeeper]

Originally Posted by GTO

In all seriousness, such a vehicle should never be allowed on public roads. 25 kmph is ridiculous - even for city use. It's the kind of bike which will hold up everyone else behind on something like Marine Drive which has a speed limit of 60 kmph.

Luckily, I have a feeling that the Atum will be a rare sight on our roads (if at all) due to the ridiculous top speed, and the fact that Atum is an unestablished startup.

Here in Chandigarh electric scooters with such top speed are popular. Even I have one. We in Chandigarh have cycle tracks through the city and these scooters are classified as bicycles as per law. It is fun zipping on cycle tracks.