BattRE Storie first ride review: An affordable retro electric scooter

Electric two-wheelers are slowly becoming popular in the Indian market. This is because they make quite a lot of sense for people who are using the motorcycle for daily or short commutes. Currently, there are a lot of electric two-wheeler manufacturers in the Indian market and one such manufacturer is BattRe which some people might have heard of. The manufacturer's current flagship is the Storie and here are our thoughts about it after riding for a week.

BattRE Storie: Looks retro

At first glance, the scooter looks quite retro which some people might prefer. It has a circular headlamp, turn indicators on the apron, a single-piece seat with a grab rail and a LED tail lamp. The manufacturer is using metal panels and in terms of design, there is nothing that stands out. The scooter is offered in seven colour schemes. There is Pearl White, Ecru Yellow, Midnight Black, Oxford Blue, Stormy Grey, Electric Blue and Tea Green.

BattRE Storie: Features

Powering the Storie is a detachable battery which is quite heavy. The claimed riding range in Eco mode is of 132 km on a single charge.

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Powering the Storie is a detachable battery which is quite heavy. The claimed riding range in Eco mode is of 132 km on a single charge.

The scooter comes with a halogen headlamp and turn indicators while the tail lamp is a LED unit. The spread of the headlamp is not good and in this day and age, it should have been a LED setup like most other electric two-wheeler manufacturers are doing. Moreover, there is a reverse mode and a USB port on offer. The instrument cluster is a 5-inch coloured TFT unit that shows the riding mode, speed, battery percentage, odometer, range, battery voltage and there is also a trip meter that resets every time the scooter is switched off.

There is also Bluetooth connectivity, the application can show some basic information, find nearby chargers, store locations and notifications on the instrument cluster. However, the cluster does not always shows the notifications and there is no side stand cut-off.

BattRE Storie: Performance

The performance from the performance the BLDC hub motor is nothing special but it does get the job done in the city. The throttle is quite choppy and the power gets cut as soon as the brakes are applied. This makes taking u-turns and riding through bumper-to-bumper traffic a bit of a chore.

There are three riding modes on offer - Eco, Comfort and Sport. The only difference between the three modes is the top speed. I managed to hit 45 kmph in Eco mode, 58 kmph in Comfort mode and 70 kmph in Sport mode.

BattRE Storie: Ride quality and brakes

The digital instrument cluster is not legible in direct sunlight.

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The digital instrument cluster is not legible in direct sunlight.

The front suspension setup is quite thrashy so one does need to slow down a lot for potholes and speed breakers. Then there is the rear suspension which is slightly on the firmer side. The seat is also quite stiff which does not help the case. BattRe is using drum brakes at both ends with CBS. The brakes do lack the initial bite but they get the job done. Having said that on gravel roads, the wheels do lock up.

BattRE Storie: Battery and range

The battery pack is a lithium-ion unit with a capacity of 60V 52Ah. It takes more than 5 hours to fully charge the battery and it is portable. The review unit given to us wasn't charging directly so we had to take out the battery pack and charge it. It is important to note that the battery pack is quite heavy. Speaking of the range on a full charge, it is 130 km in Eco mode, 100 km in Comfort mode and 80 km in Sport mode.

BattRE Storie: Verdict

The Storie is priced at ₹89,600 ex-showroom including the FAME II subsidy so these prices will increase once the subsidy amount changes. The electric scooter makes for a decent companion for city duties. However, there are still quite a few areas where the manufacturer can improve upon.