Among this bunch, River Indie is the only one to get 14″ wheels, pannier mounts, detachable luggage housings, top box rack and more
Electric scooter segment has witnessed multiple new entrants recently. All of them had pretty much similar specs and features with variations in numbers and design language. There was nothing radical about any of these new entrants. Bengaluru-based EV startup River intends to change that with the launch of their new scooter called Indie.
Pitted as an “SUV of scooters”, River Indie vs rivals should be an interesting comparo. Considering the fact that Indie gets a plethora of utilitarian options over its rivals should give it an edge. Even though Indie is all about utility, convenience and experience, specs and numbers on paper matter too. Let’s take a look at how it fares against its main rivals.
River Indie Vs Rivals
Being its maiden product, Indie is River’s flagship as well. Pitting it against rivals like Ola S1 Pro, Vida V1 Pro, Ather 450X, TVS iQube, and Bajaj Chetak, lends interesting perspectives. Given extra utility options Indie gets, it weighs the most at 135 kg and is nowhere close to 111.6 kg of Ather 450X with aluminium space frame chassis.
Most scooters including River Indie are underpinned by a tubular steel frame underneath and suspended by dual telescopic front forks. Only Ola S1 lineup gets a single-sided front fork, lending it a clean aesthetic from right side. At the rear, Indie and Chetak get twin shock absorbers, while the rest get mono-shock.
Most dimensions are in a grey area where Chetak, V1 Pro and Indie as they’re not yet revealed. At 1,365mm, River Indie has the longest wheelbase and highest ground clearance at 165mm, matching S1 Pro. Disc brakes are 240mm front and 200mm rear with Indie and are segment benchmarks. iQube, V1 Pro and Chetak don’t offer rear disc brakes.
Owing to its “SUV of scooters” approach, River Indie offers 14” wheels at both ends, while rivals top out at 12”. Where storage is concerned, there is no beating River Indie. It offers 43L under-seat storage and a 12L glove box. Add to it, provision of two soft panniers and a top box, and Indie massacres its rivals in the storage department. The closest rival is S1 Pro with 36L under-seat storage.
Specs & Features
Until Simple One is launched with segment-leading torque, Ola is likely to retain performance crown. Except for the hub motor on TVS iQube and swingarm-mounted motor on V1 Pro, the rest get a mid-mounted motor layout. 8.5 kW peak power of S1 Pro is unrivaled and Indie trails behind it with 6.7 kW. S1 Pro makes the most torque at 58 Nm, followed by 33 Nm rated torque of iQube and 26 Nm of both Indie and 450X.
At 5.1 kWh, battery capacity is humongous with ST variant (not yet live) of TVS iQube. Ola and River offer 4 kWh and Vida offers 3.94 kWh battery. Ather 450X Gen 3 has 3.7 kWh and Chetak has the lowest capacity of 3 kWh (2.88 usable). TVS bundles a 1.5 kW optional charger with ST variant and it has the lowest charging time of 2h 30m for 0-80% despite having the largest battery. Top speed is 116 km/h with S1 Pro, followed by 90 km/h on River and Ather, 82 km/h on iQube ST, 80 km/h on Vida and 63 km/h on Chetak. Ather offers 5 riding modes, while Ola and Vida offer 4, River offers 3 and TVS and Bajaj offer 2 each. Except for the claimed range of 90 km with Chetak, we have included real-world range for the rest.
S1 Pro leads the true range with 170 km, followed by 145 km on iQube ST, 120 km on Indie, 105 km of 450X Gen 3 and the rest sub 100 km. All scooters on this list get LED lighting all around and DRLs too. Except for River and Bajaj, rest offer a 7” touchscreen. Despite not being a touchscreen, River offers a modern unit, while Bajaj needs a lot of catching up.
Warranty & Pricing
Warranty plays a key role in ownership too. Despite disappointing in almost every other aspect, Chetak takes the cake in warranty with 7 year / 70,000 km coverage. Ather’s recently announced warranty coverage boasts 5 year / 60,000 km, followed by River with 5 year / 50,000 km coverage. Rest of the contenders offer 3-year warranty, but TVS covers for 50,000, Ola for 40,000 km and Vida for 30,000.
Prices for iQube ST are not revealed. But the S variant costs Rs. 1,20,183 making it the least expensive offering in this comparo. It is followed by River Indie at Rs. 1,25,000 and Ola S1 Pro at 1,29,000. Chetak prices start from Rs 1.21 lakh and go till Rs 1.52 lakh, followed by Ather 450X at 1,58,462 and lastly, the most expensive offering, Vida V1 Pro at 1,59,000. All indicated prices are effective and are denoted by the manufacturer’s website for Bengaluru, Karnataka.
Source: Bike - rushlane.com
