Work in Progress

We headed to the Meco Kartopia go-kart track for a short first-ride experience astride the Orxa Mantis to see what this new offering is all about

- Azaman Chothia 

ORXA IS A BENGALURU-BASED company that has been working on the Mantis electric vehicle (EV) for almost eight years now. We caught a glimpse of this EV when it was displayed at the India Bike Week a couple of years ago.

As its name suggests, the design language has been inspired by a praying mantis. It gets tiny round LED headlights with daytime running lights (DRL) running under it to mimic a bug face. The unique aspect about the styling of the Mantis is the hollow section on top of the battery and this section houses the charging port. It sports a split-seat set-up. Personally, I am not a fan of the design but styling is just a matter of personal preference. We were riding pre-production units that have clearly been used for extensive testing in the past. So, there were slight scuffs and scratches around the place. In this condition, the fit-and-finish was not up to the mark, especially when one considers the asking price.