Kratos R Owners protest at Tork Motors HQ in Pune: Here's why

Around 15-20 owners from Pune staged a protest at Tork Motors HQ in Pune on 15th January 2024, but the replies that they got were vague and not confidence inspiring. We've demanded a warranty extension after the fast charge port has been installed, and a recall of bikes with flawed chassis design.

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Since Tork Motors is a relatively new brand, most of the early adopters were involved in the feedback & review cycle and this is to be expected with a gen1 product from a new brand. However, a promised feature, for which we paid during purchase, is overdue by over a year. Complaints on INGRAM portal and a legal notice have been issued, but Tork Motors still refused to budge. Some of the issues that we've been facing :

No Fast Charging Port:

While purchasing the Kratos R model, fast charging was listed as a feature along with free access to fast charging network for 2 years. Initially they mentioned that since they had not decided on the fast charge connector, we'll get it till March 2023 and were delivered bikes without any fast charging port. Fast forward to November 2023, one year after purchase; there's still no sign of the fast charging port and no timeline for the same.Tork's reply on INGRAM complaint:

Further, considering Government of India Standards (“BIS”) for the standardization of regular and fast chargers for Light EVs in India, the Company is now providing Standard Charging Port along with modified Charger (having charging gun/adapter) which enables the Customer to do regular charging with the modified charger, and also to do fast charging at the points where fast charging facility is available. The Company morally felt to offer the same benefits to its early customers and hence decided to provide standardized charging Connector and Charging Port voluntarily without any liability/mandate, that too free of cost. Migrating to standardized connector required software and hardware changes (including replacement of Telematics and ECU Device) on early Kratos R model. To make these changes, the components availability is a challenge, but the Company is ensuring that it is going at a steady pace. Further, the market price of the Standardized Connector and Charing Port, Software and Hardware changes is approx. Rs. 23,000/- to Rs. 25,000/-. You would appreciate that the Company is providing all these things to its valued customers for FREE OF COST. It was/is at the option of the Customer to get the above changes done on its Vehicle. The Dealer is contacting all the early Customers as per Vehicle sales sequence and is informing about the above-mentioned option. For the Customers who wish to get the said changes done in their Vehicles, Labour Cost of only Rs. 800/- + Taxes is being charged by the Dealer as Service Charges, as the procedure being critical and labour intensive. The Company is already bearing the huge material cost voluntarily as mentioned earlier.

Tork's response conveyed during discussions held amid the protest:

BCA(Bharat Charge Alliance) has still not finalized the common port that'll be used on vehicles. FC port will be installed once the common port is finalized.

Chassis breakage due to design flaw:

Tork's response conveyed during discussions held amid the protest:

We have implemented chassis design modifications to prevent this issue in newer bike models. For existing models experiencing chassis breakage, we are committed to providing free replacements.

Note : I've not faced this issue, pictures are from fellow Kratos R owners.

Non-existent high beam:

Tork's reply on INGRAM complaint:

Further, with respect to the Customers issue regarding headlight beam throw, it is submitted that the Company has passed the tests as required by Certifying Authorities. The Certifying Authorities have their own rules, guidelines and procedures. Unless the OEM passes the Certification, it cannot sell its Vehicle in the market. The Company is committed to adhere to such rules, guidelines and procedures to provide its esteemed customers the best Product which the Company can. Still, the Company takes the suggestion/comments of the Customer in positive way and will try to work on it.

Tork's response conveyed during discussions held amid the protest:

We are actively addressing the issue on a high priority and working on a swift resolution.

Early adopters stuck with wall mounted chargers:

When we purchased the Kratos R, we were provided a wall mounted charger and no option of portable charger was provided. Now the company is providing a portable charger with new models, to get the portable charger we have to pay ₹19,999. Now the twist is, even if we're ready to pay the sum we can't charge our vehicles because while our bikes still have the old port, the new chargers have the new port. So technically we're limited to a radius of 50kms around our wall mounted chargers till the company sorts out the connector issue.

On numerous occasions we've asked for dialogue with the decision makers and were provided false promises. They've disabled the screenshots on their mobile app, they've kept the community private and they've even stopped replying on their own community page. Around 15-20 owners from Pune staged a protest at Tork Motors HQ in Pune on 15th January 2024, but the replies that they got were vague and not confidence inspiring. We've demanded a warranty extension after the fast charge port has been installed, and a recall of bikes with flawed chassis design.

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