Okinawa Ridge vs Hero Nyx: Comparison
Have electric scooters really come of age, or should you continue ignoring them on the grounds of hearsay?
While everybody knows, for a fact, that electric mobility is the need of the hour – no one’s quite yet ready to embrace it. One of the major roadblocks here is that we are still very apprehensive about the feasibility of owning an electric vehicle. Lately, though, things have been moving at a much faster pace, especially lower down the supply chain – the scooter segment to be precise.
Over the past few months, there have been many new e-scooters that have hit the market. Sure, you don’t see them flying off the shelves like conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) powered scooters, but some of these new-age electric scooters are really trying to make an impression on consumers. Take these two for instance, the Okinawa Ridge and Hero Nyx. Both are quite new and look promising. They’re priced quite reasonably as well. But can these really be considered as real alternatives to their fossil-fuel-sipping counterparts?
Equipment-wise, you get a lot of toys – including a central-locking system that’s controlled using a Maserati-like key fob. It also has a burglar alarm, which can be a bit of a nuisance since it’s a bit too sensitive. The instrument cluster is large and relegates all the necessary information like speed, distance and battery level reading. If you go full throttle, you’ll see 55km/h on the speedo. But if you ride along normally, you could get a range of between 80 to 90 kilometres before the battery runs out of charge. These are, of course, claimed figures. But, from what I observed, the scooter actually over-delivers – at least in regards to top speed. Surprisingly, I saw 62km/h on the speedo on one occasion.
Out of the road, as soon as you pull the throttle, you experience a slight delay from the motor – followed by a quick burst of acceleration. It’s very different from a regular scooter where power kicks in linearly and predictably. In fact, until you get the hang of it, riding the Ridge will be a bit of a jerky affair – especially in traffic. The brakes (both front and rear are drums) too feel quite wooden – although they do their job just fine. It’s also a nippy handler, since it has virtually no weight to lug around. The suspension setup, which comprises of telescopic forks at the front and twin spring loaded rear shocks, is a bit on the stiffer side – but doesn’t crash or hurt your internal organs when going through a pothole. On the practicality front, it has decent under-seat storage, although you can’t keep a helmet in it because of its squarish box – blame the battery-pack that’s mounted directly under this area for that.
There is, of course, a price you pay for the bargain that can be availed of here. First, it’s a much smaller 0.25kW motor that draws power from a 48V 20Ah lead-acid battery pack. Performance, as a result, is not quite as brisk. I was struggling to catch a hold of the Okinawa – even when the latter had a pillion on-board. The Hero has a top speed (claimed) of 25km/h, but, again, I repeatedly saw speeds of over 30km/h on the speedo. On a full charge, the Nyx will have a range of 65 kilometres – but recharging the battery pack will take a painstakingly long seven-to-eight hours. Some of my other grouses are regarding the instrument cluster, which is a simple unit with analogue gauges for both speed and battery level. The quality and fit-and-finish of materials is also not as good as the Okinawa.
So, what did I learn after riding these two scooters around for a couple of days? Well, it’s a bit of an unnerving affair – they don’t make any noise, power delivery is instantaneous and they’re utterly smooth and effortless to ride. But, once you get used to their quirks, they start making a lot of sense. For daily errands, or running a small business, these two runabouts come really close to conventional scooters. Agreed, they aren’t quite up there in terms of performance, quality and practicality, but, on the upside, they’re priced lower than most of your regular scooters. Plus, they have lower running costs, and, most importantly, they don’t spew harmful gases into the atmosphere – which, really, is a good enough reason to take the leap of faith that these new-age electric runabouts require.
Battery: 60V 24Ah Lead-acid type
Power: 0.8kW
Range: 80-90km (claimed)
Top Speed: 55km/h
Price: Rs.43,702 (Ex-showroom, Delhi)
X-Factor: Looks stylish, has adequate performance and is almost as good as a conventional scooter.
Also read: Suzuki Access vs Honda Activa: Comparison
Tags: Okinawa Ridge Hero Nyx Scooter