JOIN USTVS iQube electric scooter review
Being the first electric scooter from TVS, it was a bit of a suspense as to how the test ride would turn out. How will the acceleration be? What will be the grip levels? Such questions are natural to pop-up for a new product even if it is from a manufacturer of TVS Motor Company’s repute.
We rode the iQube at the TVS test track within the plant premises in Hosur. With the well laid out track at our disposal, it was time to see and feel what this new electric scooter was all about.
The iQube has a hub mounted motor (from Bosch) that has a rated power of 3 KW and a peak output of 4.4 KW. The rated torque is 33 Nm and the peak torque is 140 Nm. This scooter is powered by three 52V lithium-ion battery packs, the design of which has been done in-house with the cells imported from LG (Korea). One pack has been placed inside the floor (where the rider rests the feet). The other two are under the seat where the fuel tank for an internal combustion engine would generally be placed. It has IP67 water and dust resistance.
There is also a spacious compartment under the seat for a helmet.
Once on the scooter and away, the iQube provided a very good riding experience. Having instant torque is a great feeling. The iQube shoots forward without any delay. There are two riding modes – Eco and Power. TVS says that the range in the Eco mode is 75 Km and 55 Km in the Power mode. Assuming that it will not be that much in real world conditions, it still seems to be pretty practical for day-to-day riding.
The acceleration feels the same whether one is riding in the Power or Eco mode. The main difference is the top speed. In the Eco mode, the iQube will not go beyond 45 Kmph and in the Power mode, the scooter will top out at 78 Kmph. True to what TVS has said, the scooter hits these speeds very easily. During the first run, the scooter actually touched the 78 Kmph mark, but it was a tad lower during the second run. In the Eco mode, 43-44 Kmph is very easily achievable. Obviously, in crowded cities like Bengaluru, the Eco mode will give the user enough range without worrying about charging and one can hardly exceed about 40 Kmph in peak traffic.
Even while riding, it just requires the flick of a switch to toggle between the two modes.
Ride quality is excellent to say the least. With all the vibration of an internal combustion engine out of the way, riding the iQube was a very pleasant experience. The sound of the motor is very low. Additionally, the grip levels are surprisingly good for a scooter. The rider can tilt the scooter quite a bit without the fear of skids with the 12-inch wheels it has.
Even under hard braking, there is no feeling of instability. As the scooter has energy regeneration, backing off the throttle even a little bit gets it to start decelerating even without engaging the brake levers.
TVS has introduced a good safety feature. When the side stand is engaged, the scooter will not go into the idle mode. A convenience feature is the parking mode. In this mode, the scooter will move forward at a maximum speed of 10 Kmph and 3 Kmph backwards. Now, parking mode is a very useful thing to have because of its practicality during day-to-day use.
The iQube can be connected to a smartphone app. With the app, the owner can track charging status, can set navigation, geofencing, can get call and SMS alerts, can toggle between the trip meters and a whole lot of other things. There is a bright and colourful TFT display that gives out a whole lot of information.
The iQube does not come with fast charging at the moment. The company has said that charging from zero to 100 per cent would take about five hours.
The scooter looks very attractive and the design team has done a very good job on all fronts. The LED head and tail lamps add to the style element.
With Bajaj Auto and Ather Energy also having brought out electric scooters, how the battle turns out will be interesting.
The iQube will be sold in Bengaluru first and at a price of Rs 1.15 lakh, on-road.