'HOPE': An affordable electric scooter by IIT Delhi start-up

HOPE, an affordable electric scooter developed by Geliose Mobility, a start-up incubated at Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.

Nithya Satheesh

HOPE | credits: IIT Delhi

Start-up incubated at IIT Delhi named Geliose Mobility has launched an affordable electric scooter ‘HOPE’ on 18th March, 2021. It has a running cost of about 20 Paisa per kilometre which makes 'HOPE' affordable even for common people. This falls in the exemption category with a top speed of 25 km/hr. It does even require a driving license for a person to drive on the road.

The initial motive of Aditya Tiwari, founder of Geliose Mobility, when he started this company in 2017 was to reduce the rising pollution and climate issues around us. He created HOPE so that it will be a sustainable vehicle and thereby helping in reducing pollution around us. 

Team behind HOPE | credits: IIT Delhi

Even though the starting price of HOPE is Rs. 46,999, it still has features of electric vehicles that are available at higher prices. It has a portable charger and a portable Li-ion battery which can be charged using a socket found at your home. Only four hours is required to fully charge the battery. The vehicle is capable of running for about 75 km in a single charge. Customers can choose between the two different battery capacity options ranging between 50-75 Km as per their requirements.

This vehicle is also equipped with technologies like battery management system, data monitoring system and pedal assist unit. It can be connected to the internet and data can be accessed using an application. The battery management system makes HOPE unique as it gives the accurate battery percentage left and also shows the life of the battery. Since the data is available to the user, he can check the battery charge, voltage, GPS locations etc by logging into the application. Their main aim is to make this available for delivery and logistics companies in order to make their delivery requirements easier. 

They conducted many surveys to get an idea what the user is looking for. All the ideas they got were then collated and many brainstorming sessions were conducted to make the design of the product. A total of 10 prototypes were designed and developed before the release of the final one. They added pedal assisted features mainly for the fitness enthusiasts as they can switch as per their comfort to either pedalling or throttling mode. For parking assistance, there is a special reverse mode in the vehicle.

The main motive of building this as stated by Aditya Tiwari is that they wanted to make something that is affordable to a lot of people, students and middle class families. They wanted this to serve as a source of income for delivery agents or personal commute.