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The PluginIndia team got the Batt:RE LO:EV electric scooter from the Batt:RE team in Mumbai for 5-6 days. The Batt:RE team has surpassed our expectations in terms of choices for the customer.
From wide variety of colors to battery packs to connectivity options. Even many established brands don’t offer such choices. In this article, we showcase our findings after testing the wonderful
Batt:RE LO:EV electric scooter for around 4-5 days.
Batt:RE is a young startup based out of Jaipur and have been in operations for little more than a year. And yet, the PluginIndia team felt they are among the more progressive electric scooter startups in the country. What do we mean by progressive? EV startups are progressive if they they invest in RnD or offer connectivity options or offer choices to consumers or work on their own designs or proactively take steps to localize EV components in India. We know many large large EV players, who are anything but progressive. We are impressed by the team at Batt:RE, who have in a very short span of time are offering much more, to consumers than many established players. They have dealers in 13 states and are expanding pan India. Their manufacturing facility is based out of Jaipur. They told us that they plan to localize 80% of the vehicle components by the end of the year.Regarding choice, you get to choose from multiple colors. If you want to go further per charge, you get 3 battery/range options. If you need connectivity, you can choose the Batt:RE gps:ie, which is the smarter version of the Batt:RE LO:EV. If you want advanced smart features like IOT features, mobile app, vehicle control, analysis and visualisations, the Batt:RE team has tied up with a Bengaluru based startup – REVOS, who have integrated their Smart Mobility Platform with Batt:RE’s Batt:RE IOT model.
You see, so many choices. And offering options is always pro customer.
Batt:RE Jaipur facility |
Team Batt:RE |
For this test report, we received the Batt:RE LO:EV model which is the entry level budget electric scooter.
The Batt:RE LO:EV has very good looking LED Lights on the front and at the handle bar. There are blue LED color accents on the front that looks really cool. The LO:EV comes in 8 color variants. Full marks for offering bright colors. Overall, the design of the LO:EV feels modern. We see many people looking at the scooter in traffic signals. So it does attract attention. The indicator lights are nice and bright. We love the sticker on the side – “From Batt:RE with LO:EV” 🙂
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The buttons on the handle bar are not of the greatest quality, but at the same time they are not bad.
The buttons on the handle bar is of decent quality. You have a mode selector and a green color reverse button on the right side. Along with the horn on both sides, there are the LED light controls.
The LCD display is very basic with the speed indicator, trip and ODO meter, the selected mode and a battery indicator. There are also some warning indicators that will flare up in case of errors.
The LCD panel definitely needs improving. The entire design, fonts and layout needs to be redone, in our honest opinion. The biggest disappointment is the 4 ‘bar’ battery indicator. The battery used here is of Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) chemistry and we kinda expected the low voltage drop off after riding for long. We continued to see the full 4 “voltage inspired power bars”, even when we did 70+ kms, which is a bummer.
We just don’t understand why many EV startups don’t invest in creating algorithms in the BMS that displays the reliable State of Charge (SOC) percentage on the LCD.
That would really help owners understand and plan their trips better. Currently its one big guessing game and it’s not good enough.
However Batt:RE team has a “solution” for this guessing game. Sort of.
The battery pack has a SOC percentage LCD that seems accurate in our tests. More on that later.
Buttons on the LO:EV and a basic LCD display
Performance
The Batt:RE LO:EV is a low speed economy scooter. You wont need a licence or registration to ride this. We could get upto speeds of 35 kmph. There was a reduction in speed when we took it on doubles on a city flyover. But we never felt the need for speed in normal city riding. In highways one does feel 35 kmph tends to be limited. But you are not getting this to ride on highways anyway.
When you brake, apparently there is regenerative braking. Unfortunately there is no regen when you coast and let go of the accelerator. That would have been cool.
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You have 3 battery options based on the range you need. You may chose any one of the following battery options.
- 1.15 kWh (48V*24 Ah) for a range of 65 km
- 1.4 kWh (48V*30 Ah) for a range of 90 km
- 2.016 kWh (48V*42 Ah) for a range of 120 km
The LFP battery we got for our test was the 1.4 kWh pack. The Okaya battery is awesome. It has a small LCD panel which displays the SOC percentage along with voltage and current in Amps being drawn. If the bars on the LCD panel of the handle bar are borderline useless, this SOC% indicator shown on the LCD on the battery pack is very reliable. You can check and estimate on how many km you can go before you will have to plug in. In our test drives, we got rode around for 84 km with the SOC showing at 8.3% on the battery LED. The voltage shown at that low SOC was 44.4V.
There was an orange charger icon blinking on the LCD display. So atleast you get a warning on the LCD on handle bar when the battery state of charge goes down.
In our testing we were on Mode 3 most of the time, so the range claimed is real world range and the battery indeed delivers.
You can remove the battery and charge it at home or at work place. The removable battery was easy to move in and out. Connectors are smooth and easy to use.
The company offers 3 years warranty on battery and we expect the life of the battery to go beyond 5 years for an average user. Batt:RE seems to have chosen a reputed OEM in Okaya and it performed really well.
We did notice a gap from below as below photo illustrates. In case of heavy flooding, will water get inside. How will it affect the battery?
Batt:RE says the battery pack is IP65 rated and there wont be issues with the pack.
Awesome Okaya battery with LCD Panel |
You can see the battery. Will water go in? |
Ride and Suspension
We loved the suspension, which was very comfortable. Also in some scooters we listen to some sounds as we go over mediocre roads, but in this case no such issues. When we were on doubles, during turns the handle becomes a bit stiff. The seating position is okay, and seems a bit high. The ground clearance is good, but this might result in awkward setting positions for people who are tall.
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Batt:RE claims around 60% components are Made In India and are hoping to use additional local components to increase the localisation.
The Batt:RE LO:EV is a “dumb” scooter with no connectivity features. But, our observation is that majority of Indian consumers don’t care about “smart” features in electric scooters. They just want to go from point A to B economically and the LO:EV is for them. If your company wants some connected features the Batt:RE gps:ie is the model for you.
| Final Words We loved the Okaya battery’s performance. We also liked the comfort feels during the ride. The SOC indicator on LCD on battery pack is extremely useful. We wish the LCD on handle bar also shows a SOC percentage indicator. Also during turns the handle felt stiff. All in all we were very impressed with the LO:EV electric scooter from Batt:RE. If you’re a city dweller without the need for a car, then silent electric scooters like the LO:EV are an amazing way to get around. We are interested to hear what you think of the Batt:RE LO:EV. Let us know in the comments below! |
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