TVS Motor Company, together with Antony Raju – Kerala minister of Transport, launched the TVS iQube Electric scooter in Kochi.
TVS Motor Company, launch the brand new iQube electric scooter, together with Antony Raju – minister of Transport in Kerala. The scooter will become available in Kochi first, with an expected rollout across India at a later stage.
The company is a huge player in the local 2 and 3 wheeler space, with over 4.95 million 2-wheelers annual production capacity, and 120,000 3-wheeler production capacity.
The TVS iQube Electric carries a 4.4kW hub mounted motor capable of reaching a top speed of 78 km/h, and a 0-40 km/h speed of 4.2 seconds.
The estimated range stands at 75km (46 miles) on a full battery pack and while using the Eco-driving mode. The TVS iQube is powered by 3 Li-ion battery packs encased in water and dust resistant aluminum case.
And despite that, charging time will still take 5 hours for 80% and up to 7 hours to get to full battery capacity. The battery is backed by a dedicated BMS, and a 3 year/50,000 km warranty.
TVS equipped this electric scooter with their proprietary SmartXonnect platform and advanced TFT cluster, the scooter is connected to the TVS iQube app. The application enables features like battery charge status, Geo-fencing, navigation assist, incoming call/text alerts, and last park location.
The iQube even comes with features like Q-park assist, day and night display, multi selection of economy and power modes, and regenerative braking.
The range details were not revealed, but in previous coverage of the iQube it had reached a range of around 80km when in real riding situation, but TVS could possibly increase that further with Re-Gen braking.
The iQube is stylish, subtle, and functional with crystal-clear LED headlamps, all-LED tail lamps, and an illuminating logo.
The reservation cost is just INR 5,000, and a grand total of Rs 123,917 ($1665 USD) which includes the FAME II subsidies to get your iQube on the road. Although you can only make the reservation for Kochi at this point, or fill in your request for additional cities.
The regulation in India: “2019 Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric vehicles” (FAME-II) government subsidy, brought in new regulation and rules offering 50% more incentives on two-wheeler EVs. For electric 2-wheelers: Rs 15,000 per kWh of battery capacity, up to 40% of the vehicle cost exempt from tax.
The above incentives are only the government backed ones, as the local states further subsidize tax exempts.
Some local states incentivize with a state subsidy for as much as Rs 5000 and as high up as Rs 10,000 in Meghalaya, while in other states, road tax and registration fee exemption are offered. In the state of Gujarat an announcement for further incentives plan to increase the subsidy to Rs 20,000, and invest in infrastructures to support electric vehicle growth in the state.
TVS also has plan for developing an expansive public charging ecosystem across the city to support their customers and allow charging on the go and all across different locations in the city.
Check out the TVS Introduction video to the iQube electric:
Source: TVS Motor, Yahoo News