By Atul Gopal
We had an opportunity to test Ampere Vehicle's latest Ampere Magnus EX electric scooter. Here is our report.
Video: Test Report: Ampere Magnus EX | "Excellent Comfort. Disappointing Top Speed"
Is one of the best sellers in the EV market. High time we got a ride. Thanks to Akshay of E throttle, we laid our hands on one this week. It definitely is the John Doe of the EV scooter market. For those of you who are not Ayn Rand fans, John Doe is Mr Average. The Magnus delivers a performance which meets the need - at a price that the public wants. Spending 75 K to get a vehicle that comes close to delivering 100 km at speeds of 50 kmph matches the expectations that most Indian riders want. It matches the acceleration of most city traffic - but it ain’t a wheely-deliverer for sure. The 1200 W motor is a sweet spot for EVs - enough to keep up with traffic, but still able to keep the wh/km in check. But what I loved most was the weight - a very athletic 82 kg, compared to the 115 kg band of Chetak, ICube, Ola and Ather.
The looks are still China derived. What I liked was the small body coloured patch in the front leg area. Kind of stands out - and reminds you of what colour your scooter is. Another interesting small touch is the presence of a bright enough LED light inside the dicky. The switch for activating the light did not seem too rugged - the kind that is used in refrigerator doors. Hope it is able to survive the abuse associated with multiple seat bangings. Another kaizen is to have the MCB kill switch button facing sideways. This helps avoid accidental switch offs when you close the dicky.
The battery at 60 V 38 Ah is almost 2.3 kWh. NMC chemistry is my guess. You need a bare minimum of that much for high speed vehicles as the wh per km goes up with speed. The battery slopes down so that you end up getting some amount of dicky space. The battery is removable - but it will take some effort to get it out in case it requires external charging. The dicky is still a makeshift one for this battery - as you can see through the cuts made to get the battery in. Greaves needs to be ready to make bigger investments in moulds for what is probably their best seller.
The suspension is quite nice. No squeaks - but caveat - I was riding a new vehicle. Went through a huge water filled negative speed breaker in the flooded roads of Pune during my trial. My bones were rattled - but the Magnus did not seem to have suffered too much. The braking on wet roads was adequate too. Was suprising considering that it has drum brakes on both front and rear. What can be improved is handling. One does tend to be suspicious of how the tyres will grip the road when you twist and turn on traffic laden wet roads. Maybe Magnus can see slightly wider tyres with better tread. But I guess there will be a wh’km penalty attached to this. I would be Ok with a slightly lower range for a slightly better grip. Another improvement area is the speedo. It takes some time to find out the most important thing for an EV owner - the battery SoC. And the blinking LCD does not help matters. The visibility of the console is also not too great on both rainy and sunny days.
When riding, the Magnus EX quickly gets to 25 kmph. After that you will feel the lack of torque. Overtaking vehicles becomes a calculating game. Ultimately this scooter is meant for short city rides at leisurely speeds. Performance is lacking, but that is expected in a motor rated at 1200W. Ampere's motor choice seems to be conservative in order to extend range. We can expect around 75-80 km with normal riding.
Overall the 2022 Ampere Magnus Ex is a disappointing update to the Magnus Pro, but it will serve it's purpose for most Indian riders with excellent suspension and comfort.
The looks are still China derived. What I liked was the small body coloured patch in the front leg area. Kind of stands out - and reminds you of what colour your scooter is. Another interesting small touch is the presence of a bright enough LED light inside the dicky. The switch for activating the light did not seem too rugged - the kind that is used in refrigerator doors. Hope it is able to survive the abuse associated with multiple seat bangings. Another kaizen is to have the MCB kill switch button facing sideways. This helps avoid accidental switch offs when you close the dicky.
The battery at 60 V 38 Ah is almost 2.3 kWh. NMC chemistry is my guess. You need a bare minimum of that much for high speed vehicles as the wh per km goes up with speed. The battery slopes down so that you end up getting some amount of dicky space. The battery is removable - but it will take some effort to get it out in case it requires external charging. The dicky is still a makeshift one for this battery - as you can see through the cuts made to get the battery in. Greaves needs to be ready to make bigger investments in moulds for what is probably their best seller.
The suspension is quite nice. No squeaks - but caveat - I was riding a new vehicle. Went through a huge water filled negative speed breaker in the flooded roads of Pune during my trial. My bones were rattled - but the Magnus did not seem to have suffered too much. The braking on wet roads was adequate too. Was suprising considering that it has drum brakes on both front and rear. What can be improved is handling. One does tend to be suspicious of how the tyres will grip the road when you twist and turn on traffic laden wet roads. Maybe Magnus can see slightly wider tyres with better tread. But I guess there will be a wh’km penalty attached to this. I would be Ok with a slightly lower range for a slightly better grip. Another improvement area is the speedo. It takes some time to find out the most important thing for an EV owner - the battery SoC. And the blinking LCD does not help matters. The visibility of the console is also not too great on both rainy and sunny days.
When riding, the Magnus EX quickly gets to 25 kmph. After that you will feel the lack of torque. Overtaking vehicles becomes a calculating game. Ultimately this scooter is meant for short city rides at leisurely speeds. Performance is lacking, but that is expected in a motor rated at 1200W. Ampere's motor choice seems to be conservative in order to extend range. We can expect around 75-80 km with normal riding.
Overall the 2022 Ampere Magnus Ex is a disappointing update to the Magnus Pro, but it will serve it's purpose for most Indian riders with excellent suspension and comfort.
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