[JithinR]

Originally Posted by mail2sekh

Any ownership reviews likely to come here soon?

Same here. Forget ownership reviews, I can't even find reviews from Auto journalists where they have ridden this scooter in the real world (just the stuff from Oct). Is Hero not providing them with media bikes after all the backlash against the price?

Originally Posted by mail2sekh

I don't see any other swappable-battery models in the near future.

I am hoping that the other mass market manufacturers like Honda, Yamaha come out with their products, and they have battery swappable tech.

Originally Posted by mail2sekh

Well , Simple is still there but it is complicated

I am actually just glad that I got my booking amount back from them. In fact they returned the money quicker than Ola. But yes, thanks to the members here who figured out that something was not quite right with that company.

[JShah]

Vida in my opinion is having a marketing debacle right now,
They have started marketing the V1 at a large scale (Frequent advts. during the WPL streaming) but they are present only in 3 cities across India,They have the largest 2-wheeler distribution network in the country and they are doing nothing to tap on that.

They had promised a Electric 2-Wheeler in Jan'22, Which got delayed to July'22 and then pushed to Oct'22, 5 months on if they still are not able to scale up production and are giving a product that has basic issues with the seat then this just makes me think are they even serious about the whole EV thing? Its not like they are growing with the petrol vehilcles, Their market share has been consistently coming down. No new technology, No new platforms.

Its sad to see a home grown bad lose it like this.

[pogo0120]

I don't know how these marketing people live in these companies.

I mean, Vida means in

Hindi dictionary
Vidā (विदा):—(nf) taking leave, farewell, adieu; a woman’s departure from her mother’s or from her in-law’s house; —[karanā] to send off, to bid farewell; —[lenā] to take leave, to make one’s adieu; —[honā] to bid farewell; to depart.

How can someone name a product as which associates with meaning like leave or depart?

Some time ago, Mahindra two-wheelers launched a product called Stallio, almost like STALL, the deadly word in the aviation world.

Tata wanted to name Tiago as Zyca, a south American virus that was killing people at that time.

Looks like, these people have the same IQ as the guys in JC road Bangalore, who try to paste Mercedes Benz, BMW or Porche stickers/emblems on old Maruti Zen.

Hero Vida product is destined to fail.
1. Too pricey.
2. Government will remove Fame 2 subsidy one day or another. Maybe in one or two years, once electric 2W starts denting local RTO/GST collections. Loss of tax revenue will be dangerous to them. Then, will become pricier than ever.
3. People are now looking at Rs One lakh and maybe a little more. 1.1 or 1.2. Even Ather is worried, looking for cheaper offerings.
4. The whole project/product launch was done with a weak heart, to begin with.
Bajaj auto even today is not serious about electric two-wheelers. Same with Hero. They are happy with ICE engines and marketing margins. Same with Honda HMSI.

Some technical overthought on the removal battery.
They must have provided some sort of protection stand while charging. What will happen, if a battery under charge falls on its back, like a bottle falling sideways? How good are those wires, any protection from dog biting, children playing at home etc?

This is not a cellphone charger. The battery is big and dangerous while fully charged.
What will happen to the battery, if it falls on the ground, will it break? leak, or explode?
What will happen if the whole pack becomes wet, partially wet, fully submerged, etc, as we are seeing heavy rains in Bangalore?

Regardless, all vehicles in Bangalore are kept outside (most of them). Even if a battery catches fire, fire will not come to the house. However, has Hero Vida done homework on batteries catching fire in the living room while charging, when owners are asleep at home?

[GutsyGibbon]

Originally Posted by pogo0120

I don't know how these marketing people live in these companies.
I mean, Vida means in
Hindi dictionary
Vidā (विदा):—(nf) taking leave, farewell, adieu; a woman’s departure from her mother’s or from her in-law’s house; —[karanā] to send off, to bid farewell; —[lenā] to take leave, to make one’s adieu; —[honā] to bid farewell; to depart.

How can someone name a product as which associates with meaning like leave or depart?

I am guessing they thought it would be cool to have a Spanish name.

Vida in Español means life. La Vida es bella: life is beautiful. La Vida loca: crazy life

These are very popular terms, but they didn't think about the Hindi meaning

[Axe77]

Maybe they meant Al Vida to ICE.

[vamsi.kona]

Originally Posted by pogo0120

I don't know how these marketing people live in these companies.
.

Tata wanted to name Tiago as Zyca, a south American virus that was killing people at that time.

I think the name was finalised well before the mosquito borne disease was spreading and became talk of the town.

[pogo0120]

Originally Posted by vamsi.kona

I think the name was finalised well before the mosquito borne disease was spreading and became talk of the town.

Zika virus carries name from 1940's, 1950's. Virus spread was more noticed in 2000s but name is there from 1950s.

Regarding Vida meaning in Spanish etc, I guess our marketing team thinks anything foreign is golden. I see this behavior in Bangalore, where lot of apartments are named after Spanish, french words. Having lived in USA over 12 years, and being closer to Mexican work force, I kind feel ashamed when I see such names in India.

There is a school named California High School in Bangalore. What can I say!

Some people may wonder, why name is important! I do consider that everything matters including name. When I used to work for an American company for embedded systems as an engineer, our American peers would even look at comments in the code section, English, meaning, construction and precise nature of comments against code. Everything matters!

[SKC-auto]

Just 300 sold in Feb 2023, what a flop show by Vida. Hero needs quick introspection, OLA is selling 20K scooters even after people having doubts on its reliability.

[aim120]

Looks like the removable battery customers are miniscule. Even those who stay in apartment, who the hell is going to lug around more then 10kg per battery.

For everything else this scooter is meh and its also expensive.

Once Ola S1 air, TVS IQube ST and River Indie hit the streets. Expensive scooters like Vida , Ather 450 series will be a tough sell.

[ritesh_44]

Can you please share the working fast chargers in Bengaluru from app. They haven't updated their website but I can see many vida fast chargers in petrol pumps, etc

[pogo0120]

Originally Posted by SKC-auto

Just 300 sold in Feb 2023, what a flop show by Vida. Hero needs quick introspection, OLA is selling 20K scooters even after people having doubts on its reliability.

Bangalore has become OLA scooter city. I see Ola scooters everywhere. People have accepted this scooter, it seems!

[pogo0120]

Vida chargers at GT Global Mall, Tollgate, Vijayanagar, Bangalore. Two of them present; can charge, four scooters same time.

[HummerH]

I was just watching a youtube channel on Vida and couple of things were new and interesting to me. Features were explained by a hero salesperson I guess He said
1. The batteries are unique to the scooter they are in. Meaning batteries can't be exchanged in any way between 2 Vida's. Service centres can't intentionally swap batteries and also in emergency one can't lend a battery to a fellow Vida owner.

2. A third 12v battery ( Li ion?) under the floor board which can only be used to send SOS alerts when the 2 main batteries are dead.

3. Some storage space behind the front wing panels.

4. There is an e-sim with 6 months free subscription for now( when the video was shot couple of months back)

I have few questions now,

1. Is the battery swap restriction true?
2. How strong/secure the seat /battery compartment is. Can someone easily break in and lift the battery while parked?
3. Is there clarity on subscription charges for the e- Sim?

[fordday]

With staggering discounts of Rs 33500, Vida is available at Rs 112400 ex showroom in Amazon.in
The price looks enticing but there are no user reviews yet so it is sort of demoralizing.

[Funny]

Took delivery of my Vida Pro on 5th July
Got a helmet (yet to receive) and storage bag as freebies from Hero. Had booked it on 26th June, details here: Link (The "I Booked my Bike / Scooter" Thread)

Here are my first impressions after riding the scooter for more than 100kms within 3 days of it's delivery!

Yays:
* VFM product from the reputed Hero brand (considering the ongoing discounts)
* Super convenient online booking through Amazon and Flipkart which means you can purchase using credit card and avail additional cashbacks
* Good suspension, absorbs most of the undulations and provides decent ride quality
* Acceleration is good, you will enjoy riding it in traffic once you get used to it
* Good fast charging network since it supports charging from Ather grid as well
* Features like removable battery, car like remote key, side-stand cut-off, dedicated SOS button, portable charger with it's dedicated storage slot, boost mode for quick overtakes in Eco mode, useful and convenient cruise and park modes, factory fitted center stand, ample under seat storage which fits a full face ISI helmet easily and spacious seat for pillion which can also accommodate a kid in between comfortably

Nays:
* Hero's mismanagement with respect to initial pricing and subsequent heavy discounting, the initial buyers will be disappointed looking at the discounts now
* The switch-gear which looks premium but doesn't function like it, the feedback from most of the switches are poor and you end up pressing them more than once to make them work, mushy and non-tactile operation
* Vida app is not seamless to use and certain functions don't work even after almost 2 years of it's launch, it feels like a crude app although they seem to have updated the app interface recently
* Basic display which doesn't support many features like integrated maps (only turn-by-turn navigation which is not very useful), a documents section with "coming soon" label since launch and buggy integration with app
* Horn sounds is very mild, mirrors are not very useful due to their flawed design/placement, no storage area in the front to keep you phone or other smaller items securely
* The rear drum brake is not up-to the mark, I did not find much difference between the stopping effect of rear brake and manual regen (twisting throttle in opposite direction), so you have to rely a lot on the front discs for actual stopping power. I use the rear brake along with the manual regen for slowing down the scooter for speed-breakers etc

Mehs:
* Range seems to be low for 3.94kwh battery capacity, I assume there is some optimization loss due to dual and removable battery setup
* Due to less sales, there aren't many Vidas on the road which can be a negative or positive based on how you look at it (dud-product vs exclusivity)
* The dealership experience was average, I had to follow up frequently to ensure a smooth delivery experience. Although my SA was not pushy about taking their insurance or accessories so I opted for my own insurance which led to additional savings
* Lack of official accessories like guard set, cover, seat cover, mobile holder etc. They only have side step available currently in BLR and the guard set is supposedly under development and will be launched in few months according to my SA
* The looks of the scooter are subjective, I personally didn't care about the looks but my Red Vida seems to be growing on me especially from certain angles
* I am not a fan of white LEDs on vehicles but they seem to be doing the job just fine, need to check the efficiency during rains
* The split-seat setup is a little cumbersome to operate with one hand but it does work without any issues as long as you know how to open/close it with the correct technique, thanks to the many YT videos for the tips!

Will update more details when I clock more miles on it. Here are few pictures of my new ride