Dear EV 2 Wheelers Buyers

In view of the Ola EV controversy and a significant amount of new interest in the market, I am copy pasting a response I had written a while back.

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/i-should-g...

"You should ALWAYS go for the petrol vehicles and that too for the most popular models. I had bought an electric two-wheeler named Ampere Zeal Ex at 69400 after some discount+10000 for registration etc at Hyderabad from Flipkart when the FAME II subsidy was still a thing. Please find my horrible experience in the following paragraphs. And you should know, I am back to using my Activa 5th gen and extremely happy about it. And another thing, I feel it is ethical to reduce emissions as much as possible, while I might not be an environmentalist at the tree-hugger level, I am conscious and sensitive about the environmental issues.

1) the battery started degrading within one year of use (5 days/week*34 kms/day-rainy days-holidays), if I didn't charge the battery everyday the second morning, battery indicator will drop overnight 2) Taking out battery and charging at home is painful, the battery is heavy and it takes indefinitely long time to charge 3) The advertised range was 120 kms and the maximum I got since the first day is around 70 kms 4) The service center charged me 10k to replace the battery within 1 year although it was under warranty, they told me if I pay 10k I'd get a new battery else they will give me some used battery 5) During rain when I had to cross puddles, water would seep into the lower side of the battery compartment and it was visible, thankfully the wiring was on the upper side 6) Maximum adverised speed was 50km/hr, initially it will reach 60kms/hr at sports mode easily, and 35kms.hr on normal mode, within days that was reduced to 50 in sports and 30 in eco but whenever battery would go low, the speed will be 20 km/hr like a bicycle 7) If the vehicle had any problem, however minor, local mechanics were not trained to fix it 8) if the vehicle had any damage, however minor, no parts were ever available with the dealership,only place that could do any service to the vehicle, and you needed to leave the vehicle with them and wait for their call. No work was ever done in less than 2 weeks. They took more than a month to give me battery replacement (although I didn't have to leave the vehicle with them on that occasion) 9) The new battery costed around 35k and it was clearly stated that within 18 months I'd need a new battery without ever mentioning any recommended mileage 10) Finally, to add insult to the injury, the showroom I bought from closed down and there is still a showroom somewhere in old Hyderabad which is more than 50 kms away from my home where I cannot even possibly reach on that scooter.

Now, the second phase. I listed it on Olx at 60k as soon as the old battery was replaced, FAME II subsidy was gone by that time, and I received absolutely no interests, no one called, not a single soul, complete radio silence. I had posted great pictures of the scooter taken when it was new with lush green background in my society. The new electric 2 wheelers were starting at 80k+ at this point of time (May 2023), I reduced it to 55k and then 50k. At 50k, a month since my original posting, I received my first interest, an offer at 35k. I laughed off at the offer and kept on waiting. By June middle, I have reduced the price to 45k and I'd only receive offers at 31,500, the minimum offer the buyers are allowed to send (70% of my listed price). Then sometime in the last week of June, a student from JNTU offered 35k and sang long essays of dukhda (sufferings) when I asked for 40k. I asked him to come and take a look. He came and we finalized the price at 36k. So I got 36k for a one year old scooter that I spent at least 90k on. Keep away from electric two wheelers."