QnA: Simple Energy EV launch | Simple One Electric Scooter | Make In India

​In this special episode of PluginIndia EV Weekly, let's chat with Shreshth Mishra, Co-Founder, Simple Energy, an EV startup headquartered in Bangalore, who have unveiled their smart electric scooter on this year’s Independence day. At the end of the video, the EV community will ask some of their questions too. 

Listen to the Podcast

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Listen on YouTube​

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Questions

• Shreshth - First of all congratulations on the launch of the Simple One. The response seems to have been phenomenal. How is the team feeling after all the hard work you guys have put in over the last 3 years developing the One. What has the team been upto over the last 3 years? What were major milestones in terms of product development?

• The most questions we are getting from the community are about delivery and availability
  • The Simple One will be available in which cities? 
  • ​When are the first experience centers coming up and which cities will have them?
  • What is the plan to start deliveries? Which cities will see the Simple One first?
    
  • Can TIER-2 and TIER-3 towns people still buy the vehicle even if there is no experience center in their town? When can they expect delivery?
    
• Dealer network or company owned experience/service centers? Which route is Simple Energy taking?
  
• We have read that the Simple Energy team has worked on the vehicle design, the chassis design, battery development, motor development.
  • ​Tell us about this in-house component focus. Why is that important
  • ​Is the motor manufactured by your team? 
    
  • How challenging is it to localize plastic panel moulds? It needs a lot of investment.
    
• ​Let us talk about the Electric Scooter - Simple One. The body panels. Is it aluminum or plastic? What is the weight of the scooter and tell us about the stability at high speeds?
• Let’s talk about the battery pack, which is made in house by Simple Energy. It is one of the largest battery packs we have seen in the Indian eScooter world. A massive 4.8 kWh battery pack!
  
  • ​So there are 2 battery packs, one fixed that cannot be removed and another which can be removed. The issue here is that to use the entire 4.8 kWh energy, the fixed battery will need to be charged. So setting up a charge point at parking is mandatory. Many people assume that Simple ONE has removable batteries. But technically that is not the case. Also owners will have two chargers and will need to plan to charge both the batteries. There does seem to be some user experience challenges here.
    Why the two battery pack design? Do respond to the above challenges.
    
  • In mixed modes, what is the real true range that you can promise customers with both battery packs?
    
  • Can customers opt for just the fixed battery option and later get an add on pack? What would the range be with just a fixed pack?
    
• Tell us about the cells used. Is it NMC or LFP? Also lets discuss BMS features of the simple energy battery pack.
  
  • ​SOC and DTE algorithms
    
• Charging & connector features
  
  • ​For normal charging do you have an onboard charger? Or do you rely on external chargers like other scooters?
    
  • Do you support fast charging? How many kW?
    
  • Charging connector is it a minified Type 2 like Ather?
    
• Is the motor a belt driven mid drive motor?
  
• The Simple One is a connected scooter. BIG question. Do you charge an annual fee? This has been a very controversial topic among the Indian EV community. Many people hate the annual fee. What is your take on it?
  
• Tell us the vision behind the LOOP network. Are these charging stations or battery swap stations?
  
• Where do you manufacture the scooter and components? Where is your factory located?
  
• Setting up a manufacturing plant, expansion, product launches all cost huge money. How have you been funded so far and how are you poised financially to fund the above?
  
• Wonderful Shreshth, You are an amazing startup. We really are impressed with the work you and your team have done. Focusing on RnD will always pay off in the end.
  Many Simple Energy potential customers among the EV community ask us? Will this company last for 4-5 years? Will you continue to support them? What would your answer be?
  
• What are the milestones for this year and the end of FY 21?
  

Community Questions

1. Rayeli Prateek, from PluginIndia Telegram group
   What is the battery and vehicle warranty? And what components are covered in vehicle warranty?
   
   
2. Sudhir from PluginIndia Telegram group
   What is the IP rating of the battery? Do you have plans to sell the battery pack  alone so that we can install it on our old lead-acid based scooters, if so how soon can we expect?
   
   
3. Amit Mishra, Lucknow
   After say 3 years and 36,000 km riding - How many km battery degradation in range can we expect?
   
   
4. Sundar, Chennai
   Will you provide Roadside Assistance?
   
   
5. Vikram Kirtikar from PluginIndia Telegram group
   This is regarding the Loop chagrin network. Would you be installing these across highways considering the scooter is providing 200 kms range and may motivate people to go for long trips with their scooter? If yes details for the same eg: time to charge, location of chargers, charges etc
   
   
6. Nikhil Chaudhary from Tesla Club of India
   What is the charging connector used by Simple One. Ather has open sourced their connector, and would Simple be ready to shift to Ather’s open source connector. That way both Ather and Simple owners can use the Ather Grid & Simple Loop?
   
   
7. Parth Patel from PluginIndia Telegram group
   Can Simple provide a 230 volt AC output from the battery so that in conditions, where there is power outage one can use this scooter's battery as power backup?
   
   
8. Mayank Deo, Noida
   Does the Simple One have CBS? What is the displacement ratio on braking?
   
   
9. Bond from PluginIndia Telegram group
   Some practical questions
   What is ground clearance?
   All nut bolts and frames are of Mild Steel or stainless steel?
   Switches provided including accelerators are protected with rubber capping? 
   Will they cover the chain for better safety specially for ladies bcz they wear saari and duptta that can go in that chain and accidents may happen.
   Will they provide side footstep bcz usually ladies seat in one side so to sit properly one side it is needed.​

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