Electric vehicles have never really been considered popular vehicles of choice when heading out to challenging terrains. However, in a one-off attempt, Paras Loomba and Jaideep Bansal finished an expedition to Khardung La astride electric scooters from YObykes.
Interestingly, the scooters had been charged using renewable sources of energy such as solar power and hydroelectricity. Loomba and Bansal are both part of the Global Himalayan Expedition, an initiative focussed on a holistic Himalayan experience.
The challenge was completed in four hours and 12 minutes, which included almost an hour of charging the scooter and food breaks. YObykes scooters are manufactured by the automotive arm of Electrotherm Limited in India. These scooters are equipped with 1kW electric motors, and have a peak carrying capacity of 1.8kW. These scooters were customised specially to be able to overcome the steep gradient that the terrain can present, and could handle a gradient of 4.6 degree and above.
YObykes were introduced in the region at the Annual Ladakh Marathon a while back, and have created quite a buzz among the youth there. Basant Vaoshya, senior vice president and business head, Auto Division, Electrotherm India said that the two scooters that have been taken to the area will be used for promotions and test runs for the manufacturer. The company has also started accepting enquiries from interested dealers and individuals.