India's Okinawa Autotech To Launch Its First Electric Bike In 2020

Not every concept bike built makes it into production. That’s true for both established manufacturers and new startups anxiously working to get their first-ever bike out to the public. Indian scooter maker Okinawa Autotech has big plans to release its long-awaited first electric bike, the Oki100, sometime in Q3 of 2020. Hopefully, it’s a concept that makes it. 

First unveiled in prototype form at the 2018 India Auto Expo, the Oki100 stands apart from other electric motorcycles in two ways. One is its design, which pretty much anyone who sees it will instantly compare to the Ducati Monster. From that distinctive trellis frame to the shade of red used in its execution, it’s difficult to not immediately draw that visual reference.  

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What Okinawa wanted to do with both the Oki100 and its future electric bikes is to source and build every component in India. Did they succeed? The Oki100 nearly achieves this goal, right out of the gate. According to the company, the only thing on this bike that was not sourced from an Indian supplier is the battery cells. In fact, it estimates that this bike is approximately 88 percent Indian-made.  

“Currently, Okinawa offers maximum localization of electric vehicles [sold in India], which is 88 percent. With our upcoming electric bike, we are taking the localization level up to a 100 percent. All the components of electric motorcycle will be manufactured and sourced from local suppliers," said Okinawa managing director Jeetender Sharma.  

The name Oki100 indicates the model’s top speed, which is claimed to be 100 kilometers per hour, or 62 mph. At this time, it doesn’t appear that there are plans to export this bike outside the country, but whether that will remain the case isn’t clear. It will be interesting to see how closely the production version resembles the prototype, which featured an LED headlight, digital dash display, and disc brakes all around. It’s quite nice to look at, so let’s hope it performs as well as it looks.  

Sources: RushLane, BikeWale, Hindustan Times