5 Electric Scooters With Swappable Batteries In India

The Simple One sounds the most exciting of the lot 

• Hero gave its first electric scooter, the Vida, removable batteries as well
• The other Hero scooter on this list is the Optima CX
• Another extremely affordable scooter here is the Bounce Infinity 

Electric scooters have gained widespread acceptance in the burgeoning era of electrification. They provide cost-effectiveness with low operating expenses and swift charge cycles. Battery-swapping enables the installation of a fully charged battery within minutes or the remote charging of EV batteries. Here, we explore the top 5 electric scooters featuring removable batteries.

Hero Vida: Rs 1.45 lakh 

Hero MotoCorp entered the electric mobility arena with the debut of its new e-scooter – Vida. The brand's inaugural electric scooter, Vida V1, is available in India at Rs 1.45 lakh, ex-showroom, boasting a claimed riding range of up to 165 km per charge. The Hero Vida V1 purports to achieve a top speed of 80 kmph.

While the Hero Vida turned out to be a likeable scooter in some aspects, we think it is a bit too expensive for what it has to offer. Especially when you factor in the fact that Hero is known to price its products brilliantly, you can’t help but feel that the Vida V1 is quite pricey. Even more so when you consider that the TVS iQube and the Ather 450X, both feel a lot more fun to ride, be it in terms of outright performance or even the feel-good factor. And what further doesn’t help the Vida’s case is its shabby build quality. 

Bounce Infinity: Rs 64,299

The Bounce Infinity utilises a 1.9 kWh 48V 39 Ah swappable battery pack coupled with a hub motor. This electric scooter boasts a top speed of 65 kmph, generating a peak power of just 2.9 bhp and peak torque of 83Nm. 

Equipped with an IP67-rated lithium-ion battery, the Infinity requires approximately four to five hours for charging and promises a range of 85 km. It features two ride modes: Eco and Sport.

Simple One: Rs 1.10 lakh

Simple Energy, headquartered in Bangalore, introduces its inaugural electric scooter, One, propelled by a 6.4 kWh battery pack delivering a range of 236 km on a full charge. The scooter boasts an acceleration from 0 to 40 kmph in just 2.7 seconds.

All this sounds excellent and when we rode both the Simple One and the Simple Dot One, their performances definitely impressed us. Our bigger issue is the brand’s extreme delays. Simple told us that the One would start reaching homes soon after the first ride. It has been a couple of years since then and the scooter still hasn't begun delivering. 

In fact, when the brand told us it had started delivering some scooters, it turns out the brand had only delivered the scooters to some of its employees and their relatives. So for obvious reasons, these things have put us off the brand.

Okinawa i-Praise Plus: Rs 1.45 lakh

The Okinawa i-Praise Plus electric scooter is equipped with a 3.3 kWh lithium-ion removable battery pack, providing a range of up to 139 kilometres. Its battery is claimed to charge in 4-5 hours using a micro-charger and features an auto-cut function. The scooter comes with a 3-year battery guarantee and a 3-year or 30,000 km (whichever comes first) warranty for the electric motor. 

One thing where we would ask you to be a bit wary about Okinawa though, would be the brand’s history and reliability. Okinawa is still quite a new brand in India and hence trusting it right off the bat might be difficult for a lot of you and we totally get that. In fact, even we have not tested Okinawa scooters enough to make a firm comment on how reliable or dependable the brand’s electric scooters or even the brand’s service network is. So for now, we would advise you to hold onto your money for a while if you were thinking about an Okinawa scooter. 

Hero Optima CX: Rs 62,190 onwards 

The Optima CX is propelled by a 550W BLDC motor, generating 1.2bhp of peak power, and paired with a 52.2V, 30Ah lithium phosphate battery. Charging the scooter takes approximately 4-5 hours, with a claimed range of 140 km. The Hero Optima CX boasts a top speed of 45 km/hr. 

So if you want a slower, safer alternative to all the sporty scooters out there in the market as of now, the Hero Optima CX can make up for a pretty nifty choice. And most importantly, it comes with the trusty backing of Hero Electric, which we all know, used to be a subsidiary of Hero MotoCorp. 

So all those of you who are worried about the reliability of electric vehicles, this Hero electric scooter should sort a lot of things out for you. Hence, in terms of low-speed electric scooters, the Hero Optima CX makes a good choice.