Ultraviolette F77 electric bike gets new battery with higher range: Launch soon

It's been a while since the Ultraviolette F77 electric motorcycle was first introduced and about two years since the deliveries of the F77 were promised to begin. There are reasons more than one behind these delays, including the simple fact that it takes long to develop and roll out a vehicle built from scratch and also that the startup was, as we've all been, hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
Ultraviolette has had a good look into their product and launch strategy in this time period and so, the good news is that the F77 electric motorcycle is set to finally launch sometime this year. We had a chat with Narayan Subramaniam, CEO and co-founder, Ultraviolette, and Niraj Rajmohan, CTO and Co-Founder, Ultraviolette, to find out more about the F77 which inclines toward the performance end of the motorcycle spectrum.

Evolution of Ultraviolette F77 before launch
The F77 has been given an upgraded battery pack which previously used 18650 cells and now uses 21700 NMC cells, which simply put means increased energy capacity. The final battery capacity remains to be seen but with this change, the bike could get a substantial increase in range, which was previously promised at 150 km in the real world. The F77 uses three removable battery packs.
As part of the new update, the pack is now a stressed member of the chassis for keeping potential connection issues at bay. Over this time, the Ultraviolette F77 was also tested for tens of thousands of kilometres, says Narayan. It has been tested some 500-700 km per day, subjected to city and highway runs, simulated rough roads, and also race tracks and rally tracks, he adds.

F77 for the world..
The F77 will be manufactured in India for sale here and in international markets. The startup has stated that it has already registered some 65,000 pre-orders.
When asked why did Ultraviolette choose the mid segment to roll out their first electric motorcycle (which involves greater R&D, investments, testing, regulations and validations), Neeraj says, "when we were looking for an opportunity to roll out our first product, we were looking domestic and international markets' perspective.
"The mid-segment (300cc to 700cc) motorcycle market is vast across the US, Europe, and other parts of the world. Before we started building the first prototype of the F77, we realised that it should be able to scale to all of these markets' requirements."
Launch and expected price
The F77 is now in its final production form and the first units will roll out from Ultraviolette's manufacturing facility in Bengaluru. It will be launched in Bengaluru first sometime by the end of this year, followed by other major cities across India subsequently.
Back in November 2019, it was announced that the price of the Ultraviolette F77 would be between Rs 3-3.5 lakh (on road). The times have drastically changed ever since and costs have increased. Plus, supply chain constraints continue to remain a concern, especially for startups. Expect a hike in this projected price from 2019.