A Transformational Vehicle

India’s Hero MotoCorp is one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of two-wheeled vehicles. But its new Surge S32 is different: It can convert from a motorcycle to a three-wheeled vehicle (and vice versa) in three minutes. The battery-powered S32, which took four years to develop, is designed to allow users to choose modes so that they can zig-zag in traffic during rush hour, while going with three wheels later at night when roads are less busy. Hero MotoCorp has filed for more than 40 patents related to the design of the versatile vehicle, which will be on sale in India by the end of the year. “People have been calling it the Batmobile,” says Pawan Munjal, the billionaire executive chairman of Hero MotoCorp.