• Home
  • EV News
  • EV Blogs
  • Podcast
  • Videos
  • Vehicles
    • Sales
    • Electric Cars
    • Tata Electric Cars
    • Electric Scooters
    • OLA Electric
    • Electric Cycles
    • Electric MotorCycles
    • Electric Cargo Vehicles
    • Campus Vehicles
  • Categories
    • Community Charging
    • Buyer's Guides
    • Real Life EV Stories
    • How To Guides
    • EV Test Reports
    • EV Travelogues
    • EV Conversions
    • Events
    • Educate
  • About Us
  • Community
    • Discord
PluginIndia Electric Vehicles

Riding the TVS iQube Electric Scooter : Initial Impressions

28/7/2021

2 Comments

 
By Atul Gopal
The PluginIndia team visited a TVS dealer to test the iQube electric scooter. Here are our initial impressions of the iQube.
We visited century automobiles at Bhandarkar Road to check out the TVS IQube. The booking can only be done through the website, but the experience has to be taken at the dealership. The century dealership is right next to an Ather one - and the contrast in terms of experiences is stark. Not as refined - though the scooter is quite a reasonable gaadi. You cannot book the vehicle at the dealership - for that you have to go Ather or Chetak style - online. Wonder why? Possibly the company wants to have granular customer data. Maybe they don’t want any price undercutting.

The sales persons at the dealership were not quite knowledgeable. They were not aware of simple issues like battery voltage or regen. Some training is surely required on the EV front for ICE dealers. Did a short ride - had to make it even shorter as it started raining. The build quality is great - you can see the learning curve of a company that has built built millions of bikes and scooters. The switch quality is also good. What I liked particularly was the display - it is a TFT - but not a touch screen. For that you need to navigate using buttons. Perfect combination I must say. Was watching the Tesla Plaid review yesterday - and found that you have to even reverse the car using a touch screen. Am assuming that Elon is next going to even put the horn on the touch screen!!

There is a quaint blue Electric LED display near the wheel, which lights up whenever you brake. Why not put it upfront - like the Apple brand? TVS claims the Bosch motor peak power of 4.4 kW, so I assume that it is most likely a 2 kW motor. What I also liked about the vehicle was the fact that it has only 2 modes - Eco and Power. That’s the way to go in future. Don’t give the customer too many choices. Make life simple. Either I want to go slow or I want to go fast. 
Picture
Many people taking iQube test rides. 60 bookings in 10 days for this dealer
Picture
Atulji after test ride
Picture
Went for iQUBE ride - but ofcourse all attention was on our eTrance electric moped :)
Having said that, the performance was underwhelming. Reminded me of a test ride that I had taken at the same showroom 15 years earlier of the TVS eScooty. The eScooty was doomed not just for its sluggishness but also its limited range. The IQube is surely an improvement over its ancestor, the eScooty, but I would have expected more. The 118 kg kerb weight makes it move more at the pace of an elephant in Kaziranga sanctuary than the Arabian steeds that I was hoping for. Even the Power mode does not change things too much. This is just based on a short test ride, once we get the scooter for a detailed test, we will have a better idea.

What we really enjoyed, was the super aggressive regen braking! This is the first time we are seeing an electric scooter with such aggressive regen braking, which you can experience as soon as you release the throttle. We were riding the iQube at 50 kmph and as soon as we let go of the throttle, we could can sense a dramatic drop in speed. You are in the 20's within a matter of seconds. This kind of aggressive regen pleased me no end - you hardly will have to use the brakes on this baby. Not sure how petrol scooter users will react to the Regen, but we electric car owners used to one pedal driving, absolutely loves this feature of the iQube.

The company has done a lot for battery protection and ruggedness - but it has come at a cost of zippiness. I for one would love to see the company do some value engineering and slim down the vehicle by 15 kg at least. The battery pack is 52 V, 40 Ah or about 2 kWh. What is interesting is that the battery has been split into 3 smaller packs. One of which sits below the floorboard - and two below the dicky. I think the distributed packs are the way ahead. One of the side effects of this design though is that the battery cannot be removed for charging or swapping. But I will live with that. 

The company could have gone in with higher voltages - but as it has an onboard charger, 48 V is chosen from a safety perspective. I do feel that a 72 V system would have helped performance and efficiency. I had just finished a test ride on the Rowett Eleq, a vehicle with a 72 V system - and the difference in zip was significant. The dicky space is quite adequate. 

But with 55 km range in sports mode, who will buy this scooter at 1.24 Lakhs? We wonder if TVS even really wants to sell electric scooters. This feels like such an underwhelming product.

But that’s all that I can say now. We have written to the TVS folks requesting the use for a couple of days, so that we can get a much better review on it. Looking foward to that.
2 Comments
Arul Daniel Manoharan
17/9/2021 03:48:54 pm

I am responding to your statement, who will buy iqube at the present price. I am a iqube owner - my odometer shows 10,100kms, the scooter is very dependable, motor doesn't lack power, interface is decent. Service cost is minimal - I travel 82 kms to my farm nonstop regularly, without anxiety. I am surprised by your conclusion. It is obvious your knowledge is limited to the 20 minutes test drive. Plug-in should publish researched articles.

Reply
birzu link
20/6/2022 04:18:26 pm

i'm responding to your blog , such a useful information about electric scooters,
nice explanation very good blog it will useful nd get an idea about electri scooters for many people

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Ask Your EV Guru
    Blogs From Heart & Soul
    Buyers Guides
    Charging Stations
    Clean Energy
    Commercial Vehicles
    Community Initiatives
    Conversion Kits
    Electric Bikes
    Electric Bus
    Electric Cars
    Electric MotorCycles
    Electric Scooters
    Events
    EV Expos & Exhibitions
    EV Industry News
    EV Sales
    EV Technology
    EV Travelogues
    How To Guides
    Interviews
    Podcasts
    RE:LIVE Events
    Student Projects
    Surveys

    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013

    Picture

    RSS Feed

Plug in india

About us
Advertise with us
Contact us

Privacy Policy
Terms of Service

Support US

Get access to exclusive perks
  • Become a YouTube member
  • Become a Patreon

Subscribe to our newsletter

© COPYRIGHT 2019. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • EV News
  • EV Blogs
  • Podcast
  • Videos
  • Vehicles
    • Sales
    • Electric Cars
    • Tata Electric Cars
    • Electric Scooters
    • OLA Electric
    • Electric Cycles
    • Electric MotorCycles
    • Electric Cargo Vehicles
    • Campus Vehicles
  • Categories
    • Community Charging
    • Buyer's Guides
    • Real Life EV Stories
    • How To Guides
    • EV Test Reports
    • EV Travelogues
    • EV Conversions
    • Events
    • Educate
  • About Us
  • Community
    • Discord