TVS Motor entered the electric scooter race with the iQube and quickly turned the tide in its favor. The company has overtaken Ola Electric to become India’s best-selling electric scooter brand. While the iQube remains its primary volume generator, TVS Motors now has a second electric scooter in the form of the Orbiter.
We had this scooter for a few weeks and experienced its pros and cons on good roads, bad roads, hill slopes and other conditions in and around Pune city. During our time with it, the TVS Orbiter also gave us some perspective on the entire electric scooter charging situation. Here are our comments.
TVS Orbiter EV Road Test Review – Design and Aesthetics
When compared to the iQube, the TVS Orbiter has a bigger scooter appeal and that’s a big plus for some people. While this isn’t really a surprise, we did get a lot of positive comments on the TVS Orbiter. “What a cute scooter bro” was probably the best comment and then we also got “The whole thing is standout in the parking lot” from two different fans.
Both were young people and TVS is probably targeting the same demographic. What we experienced was the neon sunburst color, which is the most fun color ever. The Stratos Blue is also a striking thing. For more cool appeal, we have Lunar Grey, Martian Copper, Cosmic Titanium and Stellar Silver.
Neon Sunburst gets a fluorescent yellow shade as a contrasting color in a palette that also includes dark blue and silver. The LED headlights are on the handlebar cowl, while the LED DRL strip is located on its front apron. These DRLs are surrounded by sleek LED turn indicators and the same hardware making up its taillights is present at the rear.
There are a lot of geometric patterns on the orbiter that look like they were drawn by a child with a ruler, but they come together well enough to make this vehicle interesting. We can see a four-spoke alloy wheel at the front, straight lines on the floor board area and even the side body panels and its straight-line seat.
The flush-type rear footpeg, split rear grab rail, square ORVMs and the tall windscreen are the elements to like. The presence of the windscreen is not really a necessity as the top speed is just 68 km/h, but it adds to its overall visual theatrics.
Functionality and Specifications
For starters, the TVS Orbiter is a step-through scooter and it offers a flat floor board for practicality. There’s also a hook on the back of the apron, a small glovebox, and a USB Type-A port. Boot space is 34L and it is not very deep, but long. Therefore, it is easier to fit two half-face helmets. However, it is absolutely impossible to fit a full-face helmet.
The ergonomics are quite commendable for a 6-foot tall person like me and it feels like this is a scooter made for me. For short city trips, the Orbiter’s 845 mm long seat provides ample support and cushioning. It’s long enough to accommodate two full-sized adults and can possibly even accommodate a child on the way to school.
There’s also a 5.5-inch color LCD cluster, which provides a host of infotainment and even acts as a platform where you engage/disengage the hill hold and operate the cruise control feature. The cluster also supports Bluetooth function along with turn-by-turn navigation enabled by the TVS Connect app.
The front wheel is 14-inch and the rear wheel is 12-inch and both are alloys. Although it looks and sounds a little unorthodox, this wheel combination doesn’t pose any hindrance to the overall rideability. There is no disc brake, which is fine for the intended use and speed of this scooter. The headlights and horn are nice, but nothing to write home about.
Powering the TVS Orbiter is a 3.1 kW battery pack and a 2.5 kW (3.35 bhp) hub motor at the rear wheel. There are two riding modes – Eco and City. The promised range is 158 km and in our experience, the Orbiter should give a range of around 100 km – 130 km, but this depends on your riding style and the amount of traffic it encounters along the way.
Display and charging
As far as performance is concerned, the TVS Orbiter won’t cause any trouble. However, it is suitable for a family format electric scooter. This powertrain is mostly vibe-free and the ride quality from the big wheels is impressive. The Orbiter doesn’t feel underpowered on flat roads and slopes, but can pose some challenges on steep slopes.
The day I got TVS Orbiter was the day I moved to a new place in Pune and it is situated on a hill. The TVS guy who gave me the scooter told me that the Orbiter couldn’t climb hills, which surprised me a bit. I immediately took it out to test it myself and tried to climb up, realizing they were right.
The steep slope is a challenge for our orbiter unit. While revving the scooter up, the top speed dropped below 5 km/h even at full throttle and in city mode. It got to a point where I felt it was a better approach to walk away at critical points like here. It should be noted that when attempting this incline the battery SOC was 33% and there was a person of about 100 kg on it. Not everyone lives on a hill and slopes are not a problem for this scooter.
The hill hold feature is something we appreciate, but cruise control remains a gimmick on this scooter. We never felt the need to turn on cruise control on the Orbiter as the process of triggering this feature is not intuitive and may even distract you from traffic. On empty roads, we tried it and it works, even if it has a little trouble starting up.
Charging is another area where we have mixed opinions about the TVS Orbiter. Since I just moved to this new place, I haven’t set up a charging solution for the electric scooter yet. This is where a removable battery solution could have come in very handy giving users the freedom to charge their battery anywhere (quite literally).
One could argue that a potential buyer would likely figure out the charging setup on day one, negating the need for a removable battery. However, that potential user may possibly encounter a situation where they may need charging outside their comfort zone. On that day, they’ll probably want their scooter to have a removable battery to charge anywhere.
Should you buy one?
Priced at Rs 99,999 (effective ex-sh), the TVS Orbiter EV offers an excellent value proposition compared to the iQube with a 3.1kWh battery. It brings a unique and quirky personality along with large size and presence that we liked. It offers a commendable range for its price and emerges as a great family format scooter.
However, it may not be suitable for everyone. The Orbiter works best as a practical electric scooter for predictable daily commutes, provided your route doesn’t involve steep slopes and you have a reliable home charging setup. We wanted TVS Motors to offer a more affordable version of the Orbiter EV without Bluetooth and turn-by-turn navigation and the non-intuitive cruise control feature that could really make a big splash in the growing electric scooter segment in India.
