India’s family electric scooter segment just got a new entrant in the form of Kinetic DX, which was launched yesterday in New Delhi. The company aims to establish itself firmly in India and is eyeing for top three positions in terms of sales. But how does it fare against rival family electric scooters already on sale in India? Let’s compare Kinetic DX with immediate rivals to see where it falls on paper.
Kinetic DX vs Rivals Compared
In the Indian electric family scooter market, Bajaj Chetak was the only one that invokes a sense of proper nostalgia. Kinetic DX joins this bandwagon as it harks on to its rich legacy and heritage. It will go head to head with other family format electric scooters like Bajaj Chetak, Honda Activa e, Ather Rizta, TVS iQube and the recently launched Vida VX2.
There’s a lot to like about Kinetic DX in the way they have approached this product in terms of design and engineering. It packs the lowest seat height in this comparo and a decent 165 mm ground clearance, which is slightly behind Activa e’s 171 mm. Wheelbase of Kinetic DX is 1,314 mm, which is the longest in this comparison.
Powering Kinetic DX is a 60V architecture and the single electric hub motor promises a peak power of 4.8 kW. While it is higher than Rizta, iQube and Chetak, Vida VX2 and Activa e offer higher 6 kW peak power. Despite that, Kinetic DX has a 90 km/h top speed, which is the highest in this family scooter format.
Sending juice to this motor is a 2.6 kWh battery fixed pack with Kinetic DX, which promises a 116 km range on a single charge. Which is still better than what Activa e promises, but rivals like iQube with its massive battery pack that goes till 5.3 kWh in capacity promise up to 212 km range. Only the Vida VX2 offers removable batteries, while Activa e offers swappable battery option binding you to its proprietary swapping ecosystem.
Kinetic DX uses more potent LFP battery tech, while iQube uses NMC batteries. Others do not disclose battery chemistry. All contestants offer Reverse Mode and up to 3 riding modes. Like iQube, Kinetic DX also packs a hub motor whereas others either pack a swingarm mounted motor or a mid mounted motor.
Features & Equipment
Where features and equipment are concerned, all rivals offer LED lighting all-around, some kind of digital instrument cluster with Bluetooth and Smartphone app support with crucial features like navigation and more. Only iQube and Chetak offer touchscreen clusters. Also, all of them offer a front disc brake and rear drum brake option along with 12-inch alloy wheels with tubeless tyres.
Kinetic DX offers the largest under-seat storage which stands at 37L, while Activa e is at the other end of the spectrum which offers virtually unusable boot. Where frunk is concerned, it is Ather Rizta that offers the largest that go up to 22L. Only the Chetak and Activa e offer a smart keyfob for keyless go, while Kinetic DX goes a step further with a password based keyless go system that reminds me of Transporter movies.
Taking a page out of Ola’s book, Kinetic DX packs a speaker which can play music and other paraphernalia. DX lacks a pillion backrest, but it brings unique attributes in the family EV format like an integrated helpline button in switchgear, one-touch pop-out footpegs and a concealed charger that is just brilliant. These are attributes that users will use on a daily basis. Only DX and iQube offer cruise control, while VX2 and Activa e lack hill hold assist features.
That leaves us with pricing, which Kinetic DX seems to have got right. Only the Vida VX2 and iQube are more affordable than the DX, where the base variant is concerned. With top-spec variants, DX undercuts everyone except for Vida VX2 and its introductory prices. Ather and Honda fall on the higher end of the price bracket. For the sake of this comparison, we have included optional AtherStack Pro plan with Ather and Tecpac with Chetak.
Source: Bike - rushlane.com