Indian scooter and motorcycle manufacturer Hero MotoCorp and California’s Zero Motorcycles have struck an agreement to combine their strengths to develop premium electric motorcycles and powertrains.
Quite literally, going from Zero to Hero, the Californian specialists will lend their developing expertise to the mighty Indian manufacturer to scale up massively and with a look to the market in India.
The collaboration was to “combine the expertise of Zero in developing power trains and electric motorcycles with the scale of manufacturing, sourcing and marketing of Hero MotoCorp,” so the joint statement.
Sam Paschel, CEO of Zero Motorcycles, also expressed his delight in having “the world’s largest motorcycle maker” as their partner.
Pawan Munjal, Chairman & CEO of Hero MotoCorp, added they looked forward “to accelerate the transition of electric mobility in India and across our global markets”.
The companies are no strangers to one another. Hero is already invested in Zero. The Board of Hero MotoCorp approved an equity investment of up to $60 million in Zero Motorcycles in September 2022.
The idea appears to be to move into the higher-powered spaces and specs. So far, under its emerging mobility brand, VIDA, Hero has only launched a scooter alongside public charging infrastructure installations in Bengaluru, Delhi and Jaipur.
Zero Motorcycles started with premium electric motorcycles but has recently moved towards mass-market ranges. The Zero SR series comes in three different battery capacities, and a select line, DSRP, is exclusively released to fleet operators such as the Indonesian police.
Today’s announcement does not disclose which Zero models Hero may use or whether they will develop proprietary electric motorcycles together.
Keyword: Hero and Zero join forces on premium electric motorbikes