Green bikes are the #039;current #039; favourite

Green bikes are the 'current' favourite By Vijo Varghese

The Nation

Published on July 17, 2008







Toyotron electric motorcycles offer a cheap and eco-friendly ride

Looking for a motorcycle that is environment-friendly? Toyotron is the first company in the country to produce electric motorcycles locally. The company has launched three new products within the price range of Bt35,000 to Bt59,000. Currently, it has opened showrooms in eastern and central Thailand.

"Our motorcycles can run a distance of about 60 kilometres to 70 kilometres on a single charge and can achieve a top speed of about 70kph. The motorcycle comes with a charger that can be plugged into any electrical outlet. The cost for driving 1km in our electrical motorcycles is 7 satang," Toyotron Motor president Dr Suvit Thaniyavaram said.

The company has already sold 100 units of their electric motorcycles and expects to sell about 500 units a month. A total of 2,500 units are expected to be sold by the end of this year. The motorcycles are produced in the Bangkok Free Trade Zone using more than 40 per cent local components. Other parts are imported from China and Japan. Company officials said local component will be increased as production continues.

"Our focus right now is to smoothen the delivery and servicing process of our motorcycles. All our motorcycles come with a two-year warranty and one-year warranty for some parts. Electric motorcycles generally require lower maintenance than motorcycles that run on petrol because there are fewer parts that can go wrong. Overall expenses are also lesser, like oil changes," Suvit said.

The company hopes to add two more products to its line-up in the future. The focus is to provide greater range and higher speed. More luggage-carrying capacity is also being considered.

By next year, sales are expected to be more than 2,000 units per month. The company will also export its products to the Asean region in the future.

At a glance

-- Toyotron has launched three new products within the price range of Bt35,000 to Bt59,000.

-- The electric bikes can run about 60km to 70km on a single charge.