Simply Convenient

Electric vehicle start-up Simple Energy have announced their updated Simple One. We were invited to their headquarters in Bengaluru to ride it and here is what went down

- Pavit Chhabra

SIMPLE ENERGY LAUNCHED THEIR first two-wheeled electric vehicle (EV) in 2021. The all-new Simple One comes with a lot of features and boasts of increasing the range, changing the ergonomics while still retaining the price point that was set last time.

Simple Energy offer two vehicles as of now: the Simple One and the Simple Dot One. The Simple One's design is inspired by the Indian Paradise Flycatcher, a majestic bird known for its vibrant plumage and elegant demeanour. The rear lamps echo its iconic twin-tails while the front winglets are designed after the bird's talons, giving the scooter a distinctive look. The Simple Dot One is the more affordable between the two but still shares quite a few features with the Simple One except the obviously smaller battery pack.

The first day of the event included a question-and-answer session with the founders and the Simple Energy core team. We learned about the new Simple One and how they managed to achieve these updates without increasing the cost of the scooter. The updated scooter is powered by the same 5.0-kWh battery pack as its last iteration, a fixed 3.7-kWh battery and a portable 1.3-kWh battery. The batteries together power a motor producing a peak 8.5 kW (11.6 hp) and a nominal output of 4.5 kW (6.12 hp). This is then transferred to the rear wheel which translates into 72 Nm of peak torque on the road. The scooter takes 2.77 seconds for 0 to 40 km/h and is capable of a top speed of 105 km/h. All this with a claimed range of 248 km. Surprising? Yes, but we tested all of these on the day of the ride.