Hello, and welcome to PowerDrift, you have subscribed, right?
Today I have India's newest EV with me and yes, you might wonder if the iQube is actually
new because we last tested it in January 2020.
Varun did the story at the TVS's test track in Hosur, in Tamil Nadu, but, a lot has changed
since January 2020 and now, and unfortunately a TVS test bike was not one of them.
Well, that's fixed and in this story we'll talk about what's good about the iQube
and what's wrong with a whole bunch of EVs in the country today.
EVs are a bit wild west in the sense that their generation one, of a wave of vehicles
that will eventually take over from ICE vehicles, and that means lots of hits, lots of misses,
and all kinds of innovations, but the TVS design, it's not one of them.
Now Ather for example, they wanted to create a scooter that was modern and aspirational
and looking different and all of those things, TVS just wants to play it safe.
The iQube, it desperately wants to replace the family scooter.
So these lines, they are sleek and appealing, and they do remind me strongly of detective
Alex James Murphy, but, it has a unisex modern refreshingly clean charm to it,
but you have to remember,
it doesn't want to be Marie Curie, what it really wants to be is Britannia Marie.
Thankfully, the motor, it does know how to sing and dance.
Okay, maybe not sing.
TVS uses a Bosch hub mounted motor, the cells there are Korean in an in-house manufactured
battery and the management system is TVS's own as well.
The specification is deliberately modest, so the battery, 2.25kWh and the motor which
is down there, it peaks at 4.4kW.
But as I'm rapidly coming to accept as normal for electric vehicles,
the acceleration will surprise you.
EVs in that sense, they're sort of like wasabi nuts,
you know you put one in your mouth and you wonder what the big deal is
and then you grab a handful and you can't believe the shock you get,
the iQube, somewhere in the middle.
Because like most EVs, the iQube surges forward with
urgency since the motor delivers its 140Nm of torque instantly.
0 to 40 kilometres per hour is 4.4 seconds, which is quick.
TVS allows full acceleration in both modes, altering only the maximum speed between them.
At 118 kilos, the iQube is a bit heavier than comparably sized scooters, but the acceleration
is certainly beyond what most scooters offer today.
So the big question obviously is range, right?
So TVS says, after a full charge you'll get 75 kilometres in economy mode, 55 in power mode
but, a full charge takes seven hours and a 80% top up from zero will take about
four and a half hours, so these are more or less on the power time for this segment.
But like the Chetak, the iQube also does not get a fast charging option.
You use a normal 6 ampere socket to charge it, although as is the government norm,
it comes with rupees 5500 industrial plug cable, which you have to buy, and that also means
that you have to purchase an additional rupees 1500 adapter cable for home charging
or you could get the rupees 10,000 home charger if you prefer.
Acceleration aside, the motor does a fantastic job in the city especially when you're cruising
because it's just so smooth.
Now 80 kmph in the city is plenty, but what I really want is to be able to get 100 kmph,
even if momentarily, so that if there's fast traffic, I can overtake it.
Think of it like ice cream, one scoop of ice cream is better than none right?
But who orders one scoop?
TVS also provides a parking mode which allows 10 kilometres an hour forward and 3 kmph
in reverse to help park the Qube.
I wonder if you really need it on these little scooters though.
But my biggest issue is the range.
See, 80 kilometres is plenty for short city commutes, there's no doubt about it,
but the iQube and every other scooter like it, has the exact same problem.
What I would want to see our scooters, that do 100-120 kilometres on a charge,
that would be a lot more useful, at least in terms of confidence because honestly, we charged
this to full, we did all of the shooting today and we never really ran out.
But the thing you have to note, is that, TVS has built a lot of protection for their charger
so that the batteries aren't damaged and they make the charger a little bit finicky to work with.
So if your voltage drops below 180 volts, it won't charge and if you live in an area
where there are voltage fluctuations, you're going to have to add a voltage stabiliser
to the charging equipment, keep that in mind.
The batteries are under your feet and under your bum, three packs in all.
To ensure that the extra weight and its location is managed well, TVS uses two preload adjustable
rear shocks and you can see the results.
Handling is sharp and responsive as you would expect from a TVS and the sense of extra weight
is at best, distant.
So the ride quality on the iQube is actually pretty nice with the suspension showing excellent
absorption at city speeds.
Sharp bumps, those you will feel, the seat is pretty soft, again, I'm not a fan of soft
seats, but for a bike that goes around the city on short commutes, I think that's okay.
The handlebar, they're tall, which means your knees will never mess with them and you've
got a disc brake in the front and combined braking, so it has pretty decent brakes as
well, so that's a well rounded package.
The only thing I would nitpick, is that, I wish the brakes had a little bit more feel, but
honestly, this is good, I'm nitpicking. And that brings us to the electronics.
This is a noisy little scooter.
It likes to beep, whistle and chrip.
It sings a welcome song while doing the self-test on startup.
It indicates with audio gusto, it beeps when the motor is armed, and so on and so forth,
it's too much if you ask me, I wish I could switch all of the beeping off.
But worse is the few places where it should beep, but doesn't,
like when you select parking mode, odd.
Okay, there's no point really touching the screen because it's not a touchscreen.
So this 5-inch TFT, it's crisp, it's clear, but it's basically, a fancy visual upgrade
over any of the dashes that TVS's scooters have had so far.
What bothers me is the font on the welcome message, which is so out of whack with the
rest of the design, that it really bothers my OCD.
But that aside, riding data, navigation data, as well as your phone and SMS information
is presented neatly enough, so I would say that this is a pretty decent, if inconsistent
version one.
TVS intends to offer a rupees 900 subscription plan, but for now those services are free.
That's geo-fencing, navigation, riding stats, charging station finder and more.
The base, free plan, offers call and SMS notifications only.
TVS also uses a bespoke app for this scooter, which is strange.
If I had two or three connected two wheelers from TVS,
do they expect me to have multiple apps on my phone?
It's an EV, so the service plans are actually pretty simple.
You service that every 4000 kilometres or a year, except for the first service which
is 4000 kilometres but six months.
And at service they basically inspect your electricals and they check all the consumables, which
is stuff like your tyres, brake pads, suspension, fluids and stuff and that's really it.
TVS does offer a three year, 50,000 kilometre warranty on your battery.
That's all there is to it really, there's nothing else to fix.
The TVS iQube is a pretty decent electric scooter by any measure you choose.
Performance is rapid, range is decent, charge times are par for the course and price is the lowest
among the Bajaj Chetak, Ather 450X and that's it.
Hell, in places like Delhi and Gujarat, where state subsidies are on offer, the iQube doesn't
cost a lot more than an ICE scooter.
So the iQube is a very pleasant EV to add to your house, but, I do wish that TVS had
done more to make the iQube feel special, because the iQube feels completely normal
apart from the silence and the acceleration,
which strikes me as strange and beautiful, respectively.
But what's your take?
Leave us a comment.
And, what do you think we should be comparing the iQube to next?
Should it be a comparable 125cc ICE scooter, should it be the Chetak or the Ather 450X?
Leave that in a comment, and do hit subscribe,
so that when the comparison you requested goes online,
you do too.