Jayesh Ranjan, Telangana's Principal Secretary of IT, Industries and Commerce, launched what is being touted as the world's first foldable electric bicycle, Hornback, on Sunday at Hotel Lemon Tree, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad.
Appreciating the innovation and creativity of the team, he spoke about including e-bicycles in the Telangana e-Vehicle policy.
He also encouraged the Hyderabad-based founders of Kachbo Design, Nishith Parikh and Rajkumar Kewat, to establish full-fledged manufacturing units for Hornback in Telangana in the near future.
Kachbo claims to have multiple patents registered for Hornback. The company claims that the bicycle can go at enough speeds for urban commuting. It also claims that the battery can be swapped with ease, which makes it ready-to-go always. In its folded state, the bicycle is said to take less than half the space of a regular bicycle, and thus be capable of being wheeled into all forms of public transport, and being fit into car boots or elevators with ease.
Speaking on the occasion, Parikh said that electric cars costed 18 times more per km to ride than e-bikes. He added that e-bikes also occupied only 10% of the space that a car would.
The founders are graduates of IIT Bombay, and met while pursuing M Des at the Industrial Design Centre (IDC) there.