Hero MotoCorp heralds electric journey with offbeat installation

Hero MotoCorp, as a leg up to the introduction of its new 'Vida' range of electric scooters, has set up an installation of 1006 discarded prototype parts, at its Cyber Hub office in Gurugram to showcase the new range's evolution journey. 

"Several parts and prototypes that were rigorously tested, discarded, and improved upon, at the company’s R&D centre, the Center of Innovation and Technology (CIT), Jaipur, and a glimpse of the same is showcased by the installation," officials indicated.

The installation was created by the Center of Innovation & Technology (CIT), Jaipur, and the Hero Tech Center Germany (TCG). The company said its 1006 prototypes were tested across 200,000 km and spent 25,000 hours in testing across various geographies and temperature settings to evaluate the operational efficiency of the new range

The new Vida range, which is expected to be priced around Rs 100, 000, will go head to head with the TVS Motor Company’s IQube, Bajaj Chetak, and Ola S1 Pro in the commuter scooter segment. As HMC holds a 35 percent stake in Ather Energy, the new EV range, company officials say have benefited from Ather's expertise in charging grid and equipment and other components that will share commonality on the assembly line at its Chitoor plant in Andhra Pradesh where the electric scooters will be manufactured.

Vida will have the pricing advantage of offering the scooter minus the batteries as part of a swapping tie-up with Taiwanese-based Gogoro.

On the ICE side, the company plans to tap into the festive buying season with the introduction of Xtreme 160R Stealth 2.0 Edition motorcycles, followed by the Hero Maestro Xoom scooter.  The Maestro Xoom will be equipped with a fully digital instrument cluster with Bluetooth connectivity along with the 12-inch front and rear alloy wheels, cornering headlamp, X-styled headlamp mounted on Apron, and X -styled tail lamp

The company has also introduced “Hero Connect”, an app that will provide various useful alerts - Geo-Fence alert, Speed alert, Topple alert, Tow Away alert, and Unplug alerts.