I was returning from a friend's house on my newly purchased electric scooter, and was to take a right towards a bus lane to my house.

BHPian shresan recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

All i remember is flashes of a hit and flying. It is traumatic and fresh. Just a week old.

I had my helmet on. That was what actually saved me from serious damage.

So what really happened? Its all a daze as far as i can remember. I will lead you up to it and lead you out of it, you have to figure out what happened in the interim.

I was returning from a friend's house on my newly purchased electric scooter, and was to take a right towards a bus lane to my house. I approached the junction and slowed down. I acknowledged an Indica come to a near stop at the junction, seeming as if he was letting me and one more Dio rider pass. As soon as I was in the middle of the oncoming lane, he accelerated hard and hit me.

The next thing I know, I was flying. Consequently, I was on the floor with onlookers trying to help me up. I felt my ribs being choked as I gasped for air. I looked at myself, pulled my t-shirt up and checked for inflammations or bleeding. There were none. All the injuries were internal.

The traffic police came around and stopped the Indica driver. She was saying that it was my fault as i had attempted to turn right into a lane that was "legally one way but socially two way" lane. The intriguing part of all that was the fact that i've been in that locality for 18 years and there is no sign of such things. Even bizarre stuff is that buses go in and out of the road. When i pointed that out, she seemed flustered, frowned and said, "Only buses are allowed like that. Civilian vehicles aren't."

After such irritating arguments i decided to let her go. She almost tried to convince me that a no u turn board also signifies no right turn.

Anyway, what happened was that seemingly, the driver's leg slipped from the clutch and when the vehicle jerked forward, he, instead of pressing the brake and clutch, pressed the accelerator. Or so he told.

I was perturbed as to the validity of the statement.

Somehow, i was sent flying. About 12 feet or so in length and landed flush on my back. The vehicle is damaged a bit, with a stuck accelerator and out of place fittings, etc. I am yet to check with the company. I let the driver go (he was a taxi driver) without any compensation or so.

Got diagnosed with several blood clots in my chest and some injury in my shoulder, but pretty much mobile and safe as of now. No serious problems.

So yeah, please look out for people like this on the road and please do stop at junctions before proceeding, even if it is empty.

Here's what BHPian BhaskarG had to say on the matter:

Glad you are okay. Though it was not your fault, I am writing the following as a general safety concern. I am not implying that you had done something wrong:

• Be on your safe side, always. Life once gone is gone. No amount of argument about who was right and wrong will bring you back.
• Never should we be in a hurry on the road. even if we are in a hurry. So that we need to take minimum number of split second decisions.
• Should not make a move until we have understood the other driver/rider's motive. This judgement comes with experience, but anyhow it is always better to be safe than sorry.
• Honking is important in India. Always better to let the fellow drivers aware of your intentions.
• Indian driving conditions are chaotic. Always important to keep your calm, and be 100% focused. A senior driver once told me, do not bring your stress and tensions to the road unless you want a mishap.
• All these points will apply more on a two wheeler. Split second decisions may injure a rider, but a person in a car may remain safe.

Happy motoring!

Here's what BHPian sgmuser had to say on the matter:

It looks like a classic pressing the wrong pedal to me as you mentioned the car almost came to stop or it could be he was using mobile! But to me, the first one is the more likely. Unfortunate and thank God and move on. Make sure please you review about your health few times (some 2nd opinions) at least to make sure nothing goes unseen, as I can feel your pain of flying for 12 feet and landing on a hard surface. Take care.

Here's what BHPian bblost had to say on the matter:

Glad that you managed to walk away from what looks like a rather nasty crash.

From your description of the incident, you seem to have done everything correctly. But no one can do anything to fix such badly trained drivers.

Very happy you were wearing a helmet.

Here's what BHPian wadewilson had to say on the matter:

I can empathize with your situation because I started riding a two wheeler again from today, after a gap of almost 12 years. I had a horrendous incident earlier while riding, so I stopped, but due to my place of work being so near to home, I felt guilty using my car.

Anyway, today, after returning back from my place of work, I had to take a right turn. I indicted a while back to show that I was going to take a right turn, then a car comes up (there is an incline), sees me, and doesn't brake, instead speeds up. I was riding at a slow pace (maybe around 20-25 km/hr) since I'm scared of riding fast on two wheelers after the incident. In order to save myself, I had to push the throttle and thankfully was able to get out of the way just before the car speedily crossed me. Another incident happened when I almost reached home, I had to take another left turn, I indicated a while back to show that I was going to take a turn when three young boys on a Scooty whizzed past me and overtook me from the left side. I almost crashed into them because I assumed they would have seen the turn signal which I had turned on keeping adequate distance in mind.

Tomorrow will be the second day of using the Scooty to go to work. I'm having second thoughts after the narrow escape I had today and also after reading your post. Hope you will recover fully and bounce back on your feet. It seems that it's not just enough to follow traffic rule,s but we also have to gauge the intent of other automobiles on the road these days. Stay safe brother.

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Bajaj has invested Rs 300 crore in the new EV manufacturing facility.

Bajaj Auto has opened a new EV manufacturing unit, Chetak Technologies Limited, at its Akurdi plant, near Pune. It is situated in what used to be the assembly shop of the original Chetak scooter.

Bajaj has invested Rs 300 crore in the new unit. It houses R&D, Purchase, Engineering and Manufacturing departments. The factory has a capacity to produce 800 EVs per day or 2.5 lakh units per annum.

According to Bajaj, the new facility will focus only on electric vehicles. The company is said to have achieved 90% localization and has 55 vendors within 25 km of the factory.

The India-spec Yamaha Neo's is likely to get a more powerful motor and a larger battery.

Yamaha India is said to be developing an electric scooter based on the Neo’s which is sold in the international market.

Last month, Yamaha showcased two electric scooters at a dealer event. The conference was aimed at gauging the reaction of the dealer partners. It is said that the dealers weren’t too impressed with the specs of the Neo’s and E01 offered globally.

That being said, the Neo’s is one of the front-running designs, which is expected to be adopted for the Indian market. The Indian version is also likely to get a more powerful motor and a larger battery.

Yamaha has also confirmed that the Neo’s based e-scooter will be jointly developed by its Indian and Japanese teams. The scooter will be manufactured in India using components sourced from local vendors.

Source: Autocar India

Ergonomics are average. A flat foot board would have been more comfortable. You have to reach to find the horn button.

BHPian sunilg33 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

After a lot of follow up, My ola S1 was finally delivered yesterday and here are my observations after close to 100 kms of drive:

• The delivery experience was smooth and on the expected lines.
• Earlier, S1 customers were given the full range of the S1 Pro including the hyper mode but mine only is limited to S1 features by software. So no hyper mode and restricted range. But since the battery is the same as in S1 Pro I still don't know how exactly they are achieving it.
• The vehicle is a definite looker.
• The artificial sound some EV scooters make is totally absent and only the motor sound is heard. So put, a speed of 30 sound is almost absent and will have to use the horn extensively to make your presence felt.
• Ergonomics are average. A flat foot board would have been more comfortable. You have to reach to find the horn button. There are too many buttons on both sides and without a backlit button, it was difficult during the night.
• The UI is very simple and smooth, with no major lags.
• Starting from an incline, is very tricky as the motor is cut off until we release the breaks. So the vehicle tends to move back before it finds enough power to move forward. This is even more tricky with 2 people on board.
• Apart from the initial pick up, the vehicle rides like a dream. You will be doing high speeds without noticing especially in the Sport mode.
• Even though the vehicle feels heavy, the overall build quality is flimsy.
• You feel every part is made to look good than to last long. The side stand feels like it can break at any time, and the seat base is also very light. If you look at the front suspension setup, it feels very fragile and it's always on the back of my mind when I take a pothole.
• The true range shown on the screen is pretty accurate.
• When indicators are used, the vehicle makes a sound and it's pretty loud and annoying. There is no way to reduce the volume or turn this off.
• After the related stories, I'm afraid to touch the reverse button even though it worked as expected.

So overall apart from the average build quality the vehicle ticks all the boxes. Fingers crossed on the long-term reliability and hope that the bugs are fixed soon.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

At present, Ola offers navigation based on MapMyIndia on the S1 Pro e-scooter.

Ola Electric is rumoured to be developing its own navigation service for electric vehicles.

The report states that Ola's new navigation system is still in its early stages of development. It might debut on the S1 and S1 Pro later this year. It is also said that having an in-house map service would enable the company to quickly update its charging network, service centres and other information.

At present, Ola offers navigation based on MapMyIndia on the S1 Pro e-scooter. The map service has been integrated into the MoveOS 2 operating system. It is expected to be released next month, once the beta testing phase is completed.

Source: Onsitego

The TVS iQube electric scooter comes in three variants - standard, S and ST, offering a range of up to 140 km.

TVS Motors has launched the model year 2022 iQube electric scooter. It is available in three variants - standard, S and ST. The standard variant is priced at Rs. 98,564, while the S variant costs Rs. 1,08,690 (on-road, Delhi). TVS hasn't announced the price of the top-spec ST variant. However, customers can book the ST variant by paying a sum of Rs. 999.

The TVS iQube comes with a 5-inch TFT instrument console, while the S variant gets a 7-inch screen. The top-spec ST variant comes with 32-litres of under-seat storage and a 7-inch colour touchscreen. It also gets connected features like notifications including vehicle health, music control, voice assist, 5-way joystick, 4G telematics and supports OTA updates. 

The iQube uses a lithium-ion battery pack. It powers a hub-mounted electric motor that has an output of 6 BHP. The iQube and iQube S variants have a claimed top speed of 78 km/h, while the ST variant can reach 82 km/h.

The iQube and iQube S are said to offer a range of 100 km, while the ST variant can cover 140 km on a single charge. Customers can select from three charging options - 650 W, 950 W and a 1.5 kW charger.

The completion of three years not only meant that the lease was over, it also meant that the vehicle and battery warranties are over too.

BHPian hemanth.anand recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

5 months since I last updated this thread.

The positive things first...The scooter ride statistics sync problem finally is solved. All my ride ride statistics appear correctly. However whenever I return back home and park the vehicle in the basement, that particular ride is not seen until I take out the vehicle the next day. This is attributed to the poor signal strength. I'm satisfied with this although I still don't understand why this problem wasn't there in the first year and why the ODO is updated but not the ride statistics.

March 2022 and my scooter completed 3 years. This meant that the scooter lease lease term was over. It was time to decide whether to retain the vehicle or return the vehicle. Quoting my own post from 2019 below...at that time I had decided to return the vehicle after 3 years:

Buying options:

...took a look at the leasing policy and it looked interesting.

We can pay 45-75K down payment initially; based on the term (min 1 year to max 3 years) a monthly rent would be fixed. At the end of the term, I can return the vehicle and I'd get my full down payment back! I also have an option for upgrade or even exit the lease anytime after 1 year. If I exit after 1 year and return the vehicle, I'd get back 60% of my down payment. After 2 years, I'd get back 80%. If I decide to retain the vehicle, the down payment would not be given back and there would be an amount that I'd need to pay in addition to get the vehicle registered in my name.

The lease includes all the Insurance policies for the period, all periodic services including labour, Their flagship subscription plan Ather One, road side assistance. So it was effectively ZERO cost for the entire term. Over and above this, two other things that I thought about:

EV technology is still developing and going by the current automotive scene, EV is likely to see huge changes pretty soon. That would mean that after 3 years, vehicles will be much better and resale value of the current vehicles is expected to be poor (or unknown). I'll ignore Mahindra here as they have literally done a pathetic effort with their early player advantage IMO.

The battery will deteriorate no matter what. Ather provides 3 year warranty on the battery and say that after that, it may not deteriorate more than 70%. But again, it's not an ICE vehicle to just fill petrol and keep on running for many years. This will again have a negative impact on both the performance and resale value.

I worked these out and found that Leasing is the best way to go in this case. The final thought in my head before I decide to take the leasing was "When I am buying a different vehicle, why not buy it also in a different way". I took the number of the Leasing company Autovert and spoke to Mr.Uday at length and got all my questions cleared. He was very helpful and cleared all my questions to my full satisfaction. Their intuitive website helped me in quickly doing the math.

I decided to pay 65K and a 3k rent for 36 months. That would mean I'd effectively pay 108K over the entire term. Upon return I'd get back the 65K down payment. If I decide to retain the vehicle, I have to pay 10K. For a comparison, the OTR price of the 450 is 130K If I buy it with full payment. Insurance for 2nd and 3rd year would be 13k. Their Ather one subscription plan costing 700 per month (since I was a pre-booking customer this would be free for 1st year), would come to 17K for 2nd and 3rd year. Assuming a resale value of 50K, it would come down to 110k.

 My calculation at the time of buying was like this:

Lease or Outright purchase? (at the time of buying):

Based on this the cost if I return the vehicle was lower and hence I had decided to return the vehicle after the lease term is complete. But then, unsurprisingly life is so uncertain...things didn't go as per plan:

• The complimentary free subscription for non-lease customers was extended for quite some time after one year. What was supposed to be a benefit for Lease customers was negated by this extension.
• After some time the subscription was made chargeable for non-lease customers but the prices itself were reduced. Again the cost benefit of lease reduced further.
• Subscription fee Refund: Due to discontinuation of 3G by Vodafone, we had to live with 2G connectivity till Ather upgraded 4G. for this Ather refunded subscription charges on pro rata basis. This was not passed on to us lease customers.
• Subscription fee Refund: In November 201 Ather announced that the Connect subscription is made complimentary to all till 15th May 2022 and they gave some refund of subscription charges on pro rata basis. Again, this was not passed on to us lease customers.
• The Pandemic - it reduced the vehicle usage drastically and the electricity consumption reimbursement was next to nothing. So the cost advantage in lease further came down.
• Insurance premium... I had estimated premium prices on the higher side (too high) and calculated the benefit. But the actual premiums were way lesser. So the advantage of going for lease was actually less.
• The resale value of my 450 is still very good. I had expected this to drop greatly as new vehicle options would arrive after 3 years. I was wrong as the EV space hasn't developed at a pace that I had expected.

The actual calculation ended up somewhat like this:

Lease or Outright purchase? (during Lease completion after 3 years):

The decision to buy on Lease didn't turn out to be profitable in the end. I took a hit of ~25k going for lease and not outright purchase. Buying it outright would've been a better idea.

Further to these calculations, currently there are hardly any compelling vehicle options in the market either:

• The new 450x is not a big jump to warrant an upgrade from 450.
• The maturity of Ola S1 as a product is still low and has a long way from being fully developed. I almost got it but fortunately I cancelled my booking.
• Chetak and iQube are decent offerings but not so good to warrant returning my 450 and going for them.

So it was clear that retaining the vehicle is the correct way to go in the circumstances.

Autovert, which is the lease partner of Ather, was really proactive and they were in touch with me over email from as early as January. They communicated clearly about all the formalities for either eturning or retaining the vehicle. After I told them  I'll retain the vehicle, they completed the activities quickly. By the first week of March, they had couriered all the documents over to me and also gave me the contact details of an agent who would complete the transfer formalities at the RTO. Of course I could do the formalities by myself but I just chose to get it done by that agent. He came home, collected all the documents and even within 2 weeks the vehicle transfer was complete. My experience with Autovert was wonderful throughout.

The completion of three years not only meant that the lease was over, it also meant that the vehicle and battery warranties are over too. My vehicle's battery condition is still good and I'm still getting the same range as I used to get earlier. Even other people who bought during the same time have had no issues with the battery. However some owners from 2018 and early 2019 have reported some issues with other components like the onboard charger, wiring harness etc. which was replaced in-warranty. Some of those are rather expensive components. Looking at those, an extended warranty program from Ather would've been nice. Many including me would definitely buy it.

With regards to the Subscriptions, My complementary Ather 360 plan (which included the electricity consumption refund) expired by End of March 2022. I've not renewed it till now. The connect subscription is complimentary till May 15 2022 and I've no intention of renewing after that. This is for two reasons...One I'm not really happy with the value I'm getting for the payment made (both Service and Connect Subcriptions) and two I'm ok to run it just as a scooter without any smart features.

Below is the usage record that I have maintained:

Usage after 3 years:

The first year running was 8600kms. Second year it was 1200kms. Third year it was 1800 kms and the last two months after that it has been 1600 kms.

In other things, the scooter has been running more these days. with offices restarting partial to full capacity, our usage has also increased. it has crossed 13200 kms as of today and it has run around 2000kms in the last 2 months.

The saree guard and the Number plate holder screw regularly becomes loose and makes noise but tightening with Allen key sorts it out. the tyre pressure also frequently goes down. Apart from these two no major worries and the scooter is doing it's duties well. It is still a looker. Below is an image I took recently near my home:

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

I've been looking for an electric vehicle that can be used without a driving license & really like the Atum 1.0 e-bike.

BHPian Christian recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hello, My name is Christian. I just turned 16 and am 6 feet tall. I live on the outskirts of Cochin and I was looking for something I could commute on which doesn't require a license.

I could be commuting about 20-30 km (50 km max) every alternate day, mainly for my tuition, and running some small errands. Comfort, practicality and build quality do not matter to me, I just need good range and some good acceleration to reach the electronically limited 25 kmph easily, as that's the maximum all these "licenseless" two-wheelers can go, and that is no problem as the average speed here is approximately 20 kmph.

I really liked the Atum e-bike 1.0, but I saw many negative reviews and now I'm having second thoughts about it. I'm not really interested in any of the electric scooters in this range, as they all seem so bulky and sluggish compared to the Atum, which I've seen reach the top speed in a matter of seconds on some YouTube videos. All the negatives mentioned in the reviews didn't really bother me as I didn't really care about any of those, but I still thought of asking you all. So if you could help me justify the purchase or recommend any other vehicle, it would be great.

P.S. I don't like using cycles as it is very humid here and cycling for about 10 mins leaves me drenched in sweat and out of breath.

Here's what BHPian RohaNN_kWh had to say about the matter:

Hey Christian,

I would recommend you get a learning licence for 2 wheeler non-gear vehicles which permit up to 50cc scooters to be driven by anyone aged 16+.

The next step would be to buy a 2nd hand scooty or a new one if budget permits, Activa/Dio/Maestro any 110cc ones available in the market. Yes, these are not 50cc but hear me out! Cops are fine with these gearless scooters being driven by Learning Licence holders. (They are very well aware of the non-existent 50cc options)

Getting the 2nd hand scooter checked by a mechanic before purchasing is a must.

Secondly, buying an e-bike from new brands isn't practical as you wouldn't have the time and energy to look after niggles and problems cropping up and finding a dealer for the company, forget unknown brands look at OLA. You'll end up booking an OLA Cab for your 30km commute. (sorry bad joke)

Get an Activa, it's safer than a 25km/h speed capped e-bike, also has sorted dynamics and storage for a full-size helmet and some luggage.

Trust me, you don't wanna be going 25kmph on our roads (yes, it's not safe), your scooter should have the power to manoeuvre out of tricky situations, it's not about the top speed. (personal experience)

Good luck finding your ride

Here's what BHPian ObsessedByFIAT had to say about the matter:

You are just starting out on a very long journey of using motor vehicles for commuting from point A to B or maybe for leisure riding. I would not suggest starting it on a note which is not approved by the Transport department. However, according to this article published in The Hindu in Dec 2018, youths between the age of 16 and 18 can ride electric scooters with a speed limit of up to 70kmph.

Use these years to make yourself comfortable with various road traffic laws and follow them diligently.

Always remember that there is someone who is waiting for you back home! (Whenever I step out of the house, I always keep this thought in mind, which stops me from doing anything stupid while on the road!)

All the best!

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They asked me to send the vehicle to the service center, but I was not willing to send the scooter there after the previous saga.

BHPian Sierra_foxtrot recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Update on my Ola scooter issues:

The good part:

Today I experienced the power of Team BHP first hand, and enjoyed the perk of being a BHPian.

So OLA had contacted me after seeing my frustration post regarding bad service, and offered to do the needful repair. They asked me to send the vehicle to the service center, but I was not willing to send the scooter there after the previous saga. So they offered to send the OLA tempo van to my residence and do the needful repairs at my doorstep which I agreed .

Fast forward: 2 days later, the van is here, and the scooter is completely stripped off. The panels were again screwed in properly this time and they were doing it for 3 hours (suggests how many misaligned panels and issues the bike had).

The service team had one Mr. Jayaprakash and one Mr.Saravanan. Both were hardworking chaps and knew exactly what they were doing.

OLA guys if you are seeing this post, know that you have really hardworking people who go the next mile for customer satisfaction.

I will let the pictures do the talking now:

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The market share of e-scooters has increased from 3-4% to 12% in just 6 months.

As electric vehicles become more accessible thanks to government sops, more and more people are transitioning to EVs. The electric 2-wheeler segment, in particular, has seen immense growth in the recent past and according to Tarun Mehta, Co-founder and CEO, Ather Energy, e-scooters will account for 20% of the overall 2-wheeler market by the end of the current fiscal.

Mehta stated that the market share of e-scooters has increased from 3-4% to 12% in just 6 months. In the next 12-18 months, he expects the market penetration of e-scooters to rise to almost 25-30%.

He also stated that things have come a long way since 2013 when customers had to be convinced that electric vehicles were not a toy. Now, demand is 2-3 times more than supply. Even Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities have registered decent growth.

Mehta also highlighted the need for an EV policy tailored to India's social and environmental conditions. He said that EV makers will face a huge challenge when subsidies end in the next 2 to 3 years.

Source: Autocar Professional