Cameraperson: Abhishek Ranjan Chaudhary
Video Editor: Puneet Bhatia
Electric scooter or petrol scooter: What are the pros and cons of each? If electric is the future, how good are current electric scooters? Can they beat traditional petrol-powered scooters? To check this out, we got ourselves an Okinawa i-Praise electric scooter and a TVS Ntorq petrol scooter.
First, let’s just get the basic specs out of the way. The TVS Ntorq is powered by a 125cc, single-cylinder petrol motor mated to a CVT transmission. It puts out 9 bhp of power and 10.5 Nm of torque. It has a claimed mileage of 47 kmpl with a 5-litre petrol tank.
The Okinawa i-Praise comes with a 2.5Kw electric motor rated at 3.5 bhp of power and a massive 40 Nm of torque. It has three ride modes – eco, sport and turbo – where it can touch a top-speed of 75 Kmph and go 160-180 Km on a single charge of its removable 72 volt dual battery pack.
Both the scooters come with mobile apps that can show stats on the scooter and help with navigation. The Okinawa i-Praise app can also immobilise the vehicle or set a geo-fence alert.
Now, what happens if you pit them against each other? Fair, perhaps not. But interesting, nevertheless.
The TVS Ntorq is priced at Rs 66,000 ex-showroom, while the Okinawa i-Praise is priced at Rs 1,15,000.
We took both the scooters out for a ride. The TVS NTorq has a nicely sorted chassis and riding position, making it easy to manouevre through traffic. The Okinawa i-Praise has a slightly raised seating position, because of its high floorboard, but it’s pretty easy to ride as well.
However, the silence of the electric scooter takes some getting used to. It pulls cleanly, but linearly up to a maximum speed of 75 Kmph (though there is an error in the speedometer with true speed only about 68 kmph). It felt fairly quick and easy to ride, which is why we got adventurous and challenged the TVS Ntorq to a drag race.
What happens next? Who wins? Petrol or electric? Watch the video.
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