Okinawa has launched its electric scooter, the Praise in the Indian market. The scooter rivals against the Hero Electric Photon. We check out how the electric-powered scooters fare against each other.
Design and features
The Praise is Okinawa's premium EV. The scooter sports an aggresively styled LED headlamp unit flanked by LED DRLs with turn indicators integrated on the steering unit. It also gets a host of features like side-stand indicator, anti-theft sensor, keyless entry and find-my scooter. It rides on telescopic forks at the front and dual shock absorbers at the rear. Stopping power comes from dual disc brakes at the front and a disc brake at the rear, a first for the segment.
The design of the Hero Electric Photon is very basic as compared to the Praise. It gets a circular headlamp along with turn indicators at the each side of the front apron.Standard features on the Photon include front telescopic suspension, a front disc brake and an anti-theft alarm and miniature circuit breaker for extra safety.
What powers the scooters?
The Praise is powered by a 72V/ 45Ah battery which is being offered in VRLA type and Lithium-ion batteries configuration. While the VRLA takes around six-eight hours to charge the lithium-ion batteries take only one hour. Okinawa claims a 200km range on a single full charge.
The scooter also gets three modes- Economy, Sport and Turbo. Economy mode limits speed to 35kmph, the scooter is capable of 65kmph on Sport mode while Turbo gives a top speed of 75kmph. This makes the Okinawa Praise the fastest electric scooter in India, grabbing the title from the Hero Electric Photon.
The Photon gets an AGM VRLA battery with a multi-stage intelligent charger has built in memory and can regulate the charge based on the battery condition. The scooter gets two drive modes: Power and Economy, with the former mode allowing the scooter to attain a top speed of 45kmph. The Photon can cover up to 50km on full charge when using Power model and 80km in the economy mode.
Pricing
The Okinawa Praise is slightly expensive with a price tag of Rs 59,889 (ex-showroom,Delhi) but justifies its pricing with its features, better range and speed. On the other hand the Hero Electric Photon costs Rs 49,490 (ex-showroom, Delhi). Hero Electric also offers the photon with lithium ion batteries but it's very expensive at Rs 84,490 (ex-showroom, Delhi).
Both scooters need a valid license to be ridden and the scooters need to be registered at the RTO, just like its petrol-powered counterparts.
