(Image credit: Screengrab from video tweeted by Anand Mahindra)
A youngster hailing from a farming family in Uttar Pradesh has created a six-seater electric bike, winning praise on social media from industrialist Anand Mahindra.
The Mahindra group chairperson tweeted video in which the man explained how he created the vehicle and how it functioned. The clip has collected a million views.
In the video, the young man said he spent about Rs 12,000 to make the bike, that can cover 150 kilometres after being charged.
Mahindra said rural transport innovations always impressed him.
"This device could find global application," the industrialist wrote. "As a tour ‘bus’ in crowded European tourist centres?"
— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) December 1, 2022
One Twitter user said the bike would be a great fit for zoos and corporate complexes but not so much for usual traffic.
Another shared a video of an environment-friendly vehicle from Europe
"Human powered alternatives are already available. This one is from Ghent, Belgium. And you can also have fun while going around in it," they wrote."
— Sandeep Srivastava (@PeopleFusion) December 2, 2022
"This and a lot more innovation is possible from the grassroots but govt regulations and approval requirements prevent them from scaling up," read another comment. "Small players cannot afford to acquire approvals, and thus buyers can't register their vehicles, limiting the market."
Ashad Abdullah, the bike's creator, said the rising prices of petrol made him brainstorm an economical transport alternative.
"Fuel prices are rising by the day," he told news agency ANI. "Not everyone can afford petrol. So I thought of creating something that is cheap and accessible to everyone."
"I am also from a farmer's home so its difficult for me to buy petrol."
Abdullah said he built the vehicle from scrap. It took him a month.
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