Hero MotoCorp to bring Zero electric motorcycles to India. Will be locally built

Hero MotoCorp has confirmed that the company will be bringing Zero Motorcycles to the Indian market in the future. The manufacturer announced the development in its annual report FY2022-23. Hero has made a substantial investment of $60 million (approx. ₹490 crore) in Zero Motorcycles in 2022 and has announced it will co-develop new premium electric motorcycles with the California-based company. The Zero electric motorcycles to be sold in India will be manufactured locally.

The partnership will see the expertise of “Zero in developing electric powertrains and e-motorcycles with the scale of manufacturing, sourcing and marketing of Hero MotoCorp," the company said. Hero has not announced which Zero electric motorcycles will be launched in India but the models will be locally built for domestic and export markets. This should make the models more accessible, while possibly complying with the latest government regulations and subsidies, if any at the time.

The Zero Motorcycles range comprises street and dual-sport electric motorcycles

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The Zero Motorcycles range comprises street and dual-sport electric motorcycles

A statement in Hero FY2022-23 annual report reads, “We will be bringing the Zero portfolio into India, increasing access for the Indian consumer to the best of international clean mobility options. California-headquartered Zero will be manufacturing its products in India too. With Zero as our partner, we look forward to accelerating the transition to electric mobility in India and across our global markets."

At present, the Zero Motorcycles’ lineup comprises dual-sport, naked, an adventure tourer and a full-faired electric motorcycle. The bikes pack from 7.2 kWh to 17.3 kWh battery packs and are priced between $13,000 and $25,000 (approx. between ₹10 lakh and ₹20 lakh). Local development of some of these offerings would certainly make the models more accessible, or Hero and Zero could team up to develop electric motorcycles specifically for emerging markets, on the same lines as Harley-Davidson and Hero’s partnership.

The Zero Motorcycles are equipped battery packs between 7.2-17.3 kWh and are priced in the US between $13,000-25,000 (approx. between ₹10- ₹20 lakh)

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The Zero Motorcycles are equipped battery packs between 7.2-17.3 kWh and are priced in the US between $13,000-25,000 (approx. between ₹10- ₹20 lakh)

It’s safe to say that all of this is conjecture at the moment with no confirmation from either two-wheeler maker. That said, we do expect more developments to be announced in the coming months. Hero has already ventured into the electric scooter market with the Vida brand and Zero Motorcycles would be the next step in the premium electric mobility space. However, the launch of these electric bikes will be some time away. While Hero’s annual report does not mention when the Zero e-bikes will arrive, we do not expect to see them before FY2025.

For now, Hero will be concentrating its efforts to build the Vida brand and expand the sales of V1 and V1 Pro electric scooters across the country. With the change in FAME subsidies and the resulting price rise, the electric two-wheeler segment at large has an uphill task to improve sales, especially against Ather Energy, Ola Electric, TVS and Ampere, which lead the market in terms of volumes.