Introduction
We are here with a legendary scooter – The Kinetic DX+ , in electric avatar. What follows below is our detailed review of all new Electric scooter from the original makers of lenegendary Kinetic Honda scooter in India.
Looks and Styling
The one which we have reviewed here is Kinetic DX+ EV in White color. Out of all the colors, we felt the Kinetic DX+ looks brilliant and cute in this skin – What do you think? Let us know by commenting at the end of the article. Styling wise, the original Kinetic DNA is maintained across the design of the scooter. We really liked the illuminated Kinetic logo in the front, the Kinetic badging everywhere including the front dash, the Kinetic badge across the body. The LED powered headlamps and tail lamps. It is a very pretty looking electric scooter out there. Check out all the photos from the review.
Dimensions – Weight, Seat Height etc
Talking about the dimensions, the all new Kinetic DX+ Electric scooter weighs about 128 kgs. For the context – 110cc Honda Activa and Suzuki Access weighs in the range of 103 Kgs to 106 kgs. It is 20 odd Kgs heavier compared to your regular scooter. The Kinetic DX+ Seat is well accessible – Thanks to its very short seat height of 760-780mm. The Kinetic DX+ electric scooter has a wheelbase of 1315mm which is good for cornering and turns. The seat is wide and comfortable to sit with a length of 714mm. Being an Indian company and knowing the road situation well here, the Kinetic DX+ scooter comes with a moderately high ground clearance of 165mm.
Performance and Usability
Kinetic DX+ EV scooter is powered by a 2.6 kWh battery – It is a LFP battery, known for the durability. By default, DX+ offers 3-years / 50,000 kms warranty on the battery – one can also purchase an extended warranty of upto 9 years / 100,000 Kms. We could not test all the performance aspects of all new Kinetic DX+ EV scooter in a short 4 hour media review window, here are some highlights:
The scooter looks fantastic and has a very warm and welcoming cute design – So the rider gets naturally attracted to get on the bike.
There are plenty of hard keys on the dash as well as on the handlebar. It may be overwhelming at the first glance, however these buttons does their assigned job very well. On the left side of the handlebar, there are buttons for opening the charging lid, to access under-seat storage, increase/decrease brightness of the display on the dashboard. On the right side of the handlebar, there are buttons to Reverse the scooter, to use Cruise Control feature etc
For every button press, there is a audio playback announcing what it does – It is kind of intuitive and works well at the same time may be annoying for some users. There is a dedicated application called “Kinetic Connect” – Once paired with the scooter, you could perform most basic operations via the app itself. Other important parameters like total remaining charge, range available, geo-fencing etc, Using the app, one can change the audio language – there are 14 vernacular languages available to select from. We tested by choosing “Kannada” as default language, and the scooter immediately switched to Kannada announcements – This feature deserves some appreciation as it is rider-centric and also help him/her communicate to use the scooter for its full potential.
The scooter offers coasting regeneration, if you are passing downwards through a reclined surface, the battery gets automatically charged. You could see regen indicator turned on in the front dash.
Locking and Unlocking the Scooter
It is probably a very unique scooter till date in the market offering keyless start. There is a twist, Kinetic has provided a dedicated keypad with a closable panel where one should key-in unique 4 digits secret pin. You will have to press a dedicated button in keypad panel situated on the left for about 2-5 seconds, once the panel light starts blinking you need to physically key in the 4-digit pin and then the whole dash comes into action. After the use, one could close down the keypad area. While there is a small learning curve involved in unlocking the scooter, it becomes a habit as you do it regularly.
Charging – How to charge? Range etc
The one which we have reviewed here is Kinetic DX+, which is top-variant that includes a 3 metre cable included along with a 3-pin socket. Kinetic calls this as “Easy Charge”. You can unlock the charging lid by pressing a dedicated button on left side of your handlebar. The portable charging facility is available only on DX+ variant where the charger comes integrated with the scooter itself.
The Range offered by Kinetic DX+ EV depends on the riding mode which you use. If you have to extend the range till 100+ Kms, you will have be choosing the Range mode (economy) where the top-speed is capped only upto 50 Kms. The other modes like Turbo / Power mode offers a better top speed upto 90 Kmph – However the range will get reduced to less than 60-70 kms per charge.
Regarding the charging time – Kinetic claims it takes only about 3 hours to charge the battery from 0 to 80%. Normal 3-pin home charging socket can be used.
In our short media review of the scooter we achieved about 60 kms of range with a mix of all modes – Turbo , Power , and Range with 20% of battery charge left.
Ride and Handling
We tested this scooter for 4 hours in different terrains including flat surfaces – Highway, city and also a small hill section with some gradient. Our commute was between Veerdency Resort (near KIAL) and Akkayamma Betta, Chikkajala. Riding the scooter on highway was straight forward – the power delivery was consistent and it was fun to ride. The range stayed the same as expected in the economy mode with a top speed of about 50 kmph. As soon as we switched to Power / Turbo mode, the top -speed increased, however the range drastically dropped creating some anxiety – so we went back to riding in the economy mode. While 50 Kmph is not a bad speed for commuting within city, it really feels less when overtaking bigger cars and trucks – so you are forced to switch to different mode ultimately sacrificing on the total range obtained.
Brakes and Suspension
Kinetic DX+ Electric scooter is equipped with disc brake setup in the front – which functioned well during our commute – the braking feedback was good enough. No complaints on suspension system as well, it was tuned pretty well and it felt comfortable for both single rider and a pillion at the back. We did not observe any issues or vibrations or dangling parts when the scooter was being ridden on uneven surfaces.
Practicality
The Kinetic DX+ Electric scooter offers a massive under seat storage of 37 litres. We had kept a bulky DSLR Camera bag, some snacks, water bottles in that space… It was good enough to accommodate 2 short bags. The under seat storage of Kinetic DX+ is any day better than Honda Activa e: which does not even have a provision for storage under seat. Kinetic DX+ has intelligently engineered the design of fixed battery creating a room for storage – where as Activa e: is a disappointment because of its swappable battery architecture and there is no room for any practical storage under the seat. There is a charging port which is provided under the seat, We wish they provided charging socket somewhere outside in the front of the scooter than hiding it in the under seat storage area.
Apart from this, Kinetic DX+ offers multiple hooks and utility plugs where you could hang in your shopping bags. The flat floor-board in the front can also be utilised for carrying stuff.
Colors, Variants and Price
Kinetic DX+ electric scooter is launched in multiple color options namely – Red, Blue, White, Silver and Black. The Red, Blue and White colors are exclusively reserved for DX+ trim. The scooter is available in Silver and Black for both DX and DX+ trim.
The all new Kinetic DX+ Electric scooter is currently priced at Rs 1.17 lakhs ( Ex-showroom Bangalore). There are no showrooms currently available in Bangalore, it will be launched in later dates.
What we liked in the scooter?
We liked the looks of the scooter. It looks top class, well finished and has that “KINETIC” heritage maintained within the scooter character. You will see many legendary KINETIC elements present in their old petrol scooter being used in the modern EV, Be it the design of headlamps, the featuring of Kinetic logo, the dash of Kinetic EV almost resembling the heritage petrol scooter.
We also liked the fact that the scooter has many indigenously built first-of-a-kind features like easy-flip where you could operate a lever from the handlebar to release the footpegs at the back.. This is extremely useful, when you are carrying a pillion at the back.
We also liked audio announcements in regional languages to operate the scooter, also their “Kinetic Connect” app works really well as advertized in synchronising the information, accessing scooter data and to perform basic operation via the app itself.
At Rs 1.17 lakhs, the price is reasonable, and the features are plenty. You will get to experience features like “Cruise Control” on this scooter!
What we did not like?
The 2.6 kWh battery could have been little large / Could have offered a better range of atleast 150 Kms in Range/ Economy mode and a minimum of 100 kms in any other sports modes like Turbo/Power.
The responsiveness is not that great – From the press of a button to real action – there is a short delay ( for about 2-5 seconds) which Kinetic should seriously consider improving it. There is also a room to improve on simplifying the starting the scooter process.
While the cruise control feature works after attaining a minimum of 10 kmph , it still needs some work and user feedback and implementation. It is slightly unintuitive to use this feature on steeper roads and highways.
Check out the full photo gallery of Kinetic DX+ EV below:
Let us know what do you think of this review by commenting below.
