[TusharK]

Hero MotoCorp has launched its first electric scooter in the Indian market. The Vida V1 is also the first model under the new 'Vida' sub-brand. It is available in two variants: Pro and Plus, priced at Rs 1.45 lakh and Rs 1.59 lakh (ex-showroom), respectively.



The Vida V1 features a dual-tone tone bodywork with an LED headlamp up front and a 7-inch touchscreen. It also gets features like keyless control, cruise control, SOS alert, a two-way throttle and three riding modes – Eco, Ride and Sports.

The Vida V1 electric scooter comes with swappable batteries. The V1 Pro is said to have a range of 165 km, while the V1 Plus can cover 143 km on a single charge. Both variants can be charged at a rate of 1.2 km per minute. According to Hero, the V1 Pro and V1 Plus can accelerate from 0-40 km/h in 3.2 seconds and 3.4 seconds, respectively. Both variants have a top speed of 80 km/h.

Deliveries of the Vida V1 e-scooter will begin in the second week of December 2022. Initially, the scooter will be available in Delhi, Bangalore and Jaipur only.

Hero is also offering a buy-back assurance scheme. As part of this, the company would purchase the scooter back at up to 70% of its value within 16-18 months.

Link to Team-BHP News

[rahulskumar]

I never felt electric scooter economical and practical for daily use. The usual fill it and forget mantra never works. The cost of replacing these batteries will negate whatever we save at gas station and break even is a distant reality with high initial cost. I am still anticipating Maruti to launch WagonR electric or any small hatch to do the city runs

[sreeharipv]

I never understood the petrol scooters. They can't be refueled at home, is very expensive to fuel, need to change oil, need to wait at busy petrol pumps at least once in a week, they are jerky & noisy, acceleration isn't smooth, usually not balanced from left to right. Scooters don't go very far on a daily basis. So quick refueling on the road is irrelevant.

Electric scooters have none of these downsides. Current EV Li-ion batteries will easily last more than 10 years or 1 lakh km. The good ones come with extra luggage space and new features like navigation. I have one Ather and two Olas in my household, not expecting to change any of their batteries in 10 years.

People riding 50+ km everyday can buy an Ola or Ather from just the fuel savings!

[antz.bin]

Vida V1 Plus seems good enough to be the daily ride for countless people. Backed by Hero Motocorp, it should also address the reliability and after sales support part of the equation.

I agree with Sree here on the need for Petrol scooters. There isn't any and they shouldn't exist. Electric scooters with petrol-like top speeds and real world range of 80-100km is more than enough for 99.9% of scooter users. I have had this opinion since at least 5 years. Vida V1, Ola S1, TVS iQube all do the job.

[ritesh_44]

I hope fast charger is compatible with ather, since Hero has already invested in Ather, technology sharing should be possible. Would be easy for both scooters to share fast charging infrastructure. The charging gun looks similar to Ather's

[JShah]

Disappointed with the pricing of the V1, Expected it to be between 1-1.3 Lakh Ex showroom, They already have their investments in Ather that is competing in the premium space.

I really wished they took Ola and TVS head on, Features are not very different from that of competitors barring the removable batteries (Which IMO is a great offering especially for the urban dwellers living in apartments)

[sreeharipv]

Ola seem to be the value for money king at this point. You can drive an S1 Pro off for not much more than 140k OTR. I don't see how this Vida will compete with that. This is would be a decent deal at 90 k OTR.

[sri_tesla]

Some thoughts on the Hero Vida V1 scooter:

• IDC range of 143 km means, the real-world range of V1 plus will be around 100km. Which is the same as the Ather 450X and iQube base and S variants. Pricing will be 30 to 35K more than the iQube base/S variants. You will be getting a touchscreen, cruise control, keyless, etc... but those are not worth of 35K extra IMO.

• I read multiple articles and checked the official website but still could not find the motor power and battery capacity yet. I wonder why is Hero hiding those basic details.

• Design looks different and boring like TVS iQube. Ather and Ola scooters are still the best-looking electric scooters currently.

• Why is it limited to only 3 cities even after such a delayed launch? How quickly can they ramp up production and expand to other cities? Hero's petrol vehicle sales are declining at a faster pace than the market and they are losing market share for the last few years. I don't think their EV lineup will solve that market share erosion anytime soon.

• Hero has been investing or partnering with all kinds of startups (Ather, Zero, Gogoro) but why is their own product a mediocre one? On the contrary, all the startups they invested in are known for exciting, futuristic products.

• Up to 70% buyback offer after just 16 to 18 months is pathetic.

[aim120]

Do they have a website? Also they claim they have done a puncture, penetration test on battery. Does it mean they have a LFP pack. Is the price with just one battery or two batteries.

I guess they want to target people leaving in apartment and may be delivery guys who do short but many runs a day.

The high cost may be because apart from the frame, tires and body panels. All the EV tech is being imported.

With very little info, this has been the most lamest launch by mainstream 2 wheeler manufacturer.

[Venkatesh]

Closer look at the new Hero Vida e-scooter.





















Source : MotorBeam

[advstreak]

Has anybody else also noticed the ABS ring on the front disk?

I have not seen any mention about that in the couple of articles and video I saw.

It would be really great to have ABS on a E-Scooter (albeit single channel but still better than no ABS).

[SKC-auto]

What a disappointment, after showing all the wonderful things on the earth(rivers, waterfalls, seeds emerging from soil), talking about all sustainable and showing us a boring, highly priced scooter.

We don't want to hear from your executives, just tell us the specs, price, how many you are going to deliver and what date you are planning to end ICE sales.

[Funny]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u5rDRP1pB8

This video includes some additional details that were not known yet.
Battery Capacity: 3.44 kWh (Plus); 3.94 kWh (Pro)
Power Output: 6 kW Peak and 3.9 kW Continuous
Fast Charge Port: Looks similar to Ather's port. Possibly supports Ather's fast charging network.
ABS: I could see the ABS ring at 2:48. Possibly has single channel ABS since the rear is a drum brake setup.

[ritesh_44]

Originally Posted by Funny

https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=_u5rDRP1pB8


Fast Charge Port: Looks similar to Ather's port. Possibly supports Ather's fast charging network.

They have announced that charging port will be compatible
HERO MOTOCORP TO ADOPT ATHER ENERGY’S FAST-CHARGING TECH FOR ITS UPCOMING ELECTRIC TWO-WHEELERS

[PraNeel]

Hero should have thought more about the price and positioning of this product.
They are asking top price with no USP. Hero sells because of VFM and widespread service network.
Vida in hindi means Departure. With pricing they sure are on a path to that.
ABS - Hero ABS unit which they call as HECU is notorious for not kicking in and jamming up the lever on Xpulse.
Hero should correct the price if they want to succeed.
The fit and finish, especially on the handlebar area and around the seat buttons etc doesn't look good.
Don't want to be critical but in my honesty I don't see any reason except widespread service network to buy this.
And as per my experience Xpulse parts are not readily available in Hero SC, then for an electric scooter - I don't know.
Looks unusual as well. All scooters like Ather, Ola, Icube have much better styling.

Here are the first impression videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CenW...annel=GearFliQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2a2...nnel=OVERDRIVE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd2j...nnel=ZigWheels

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arF2...nnel=Motoroids