Suzuki entered the electric scooter market earlier this year with its self-developed e-Access, which at Rs 1.92 lakh (ex-showroom, Bengaluru), is one of the most expensive electric scooters from a mainstream manufacturer right now. We were recently able to subject the e-Access to our real-world range tests and here’s how Suzuki’s maiden two-wheeler EV performed.
- In Ride A mode, it covered 88.4km
- It has an efficiency of 28.78km/kWh
- 600W charger can top up a flat battery to full in 6 hours
Suzuki e-Access real world range
The e-Access has a 3kWh battery which uses LFP (Lithium Ferrous Phosphate) chemistry unlike most other well-known EVs which use NCM (Nickel Cobalt Manganese) battery packs. The advantages of LFP chemistry over NCM are relatively longer battery life and better thermal stability but the tradeoff is lower energy density, and ergo, lower range. Suzuki claims a 95km IDC range on a full charge.
The e-Access has 3 riding modes - Ride A, Ride B and Eco. On the move, you can only toggle between one of the Ride modes and Eco. To switch between the two Ride modes you need to be at a complete stop.
In both Ride modes, throttle response and peak power is identical but what changes is the level of regenerative braking. Ride B has gentler intervention than Ride A so we elected to conduct our test in Ride A in a bid to extract more range.
With 12-inch wheels shod with standard-issue scooter sized tyres and a fairly light 122kg kerb weight (in the EV space), the e-Access sits more or less on par with the bestsellers in this class in these parameters.
In city traffic conditions, at lower speeds and with regenerative braking kicking in more often, the e-Access’s range was dropping at a slower rate than when we were at faster speeds on open roads - this will be the case for all EVs and isn’t a trait exclusive to it.
At the end of the run, when the range indicator and battery SOC meter on the display both ran out to zero, the scooter kept running with progressively lower performance for another 2.2km. Eventually, it was restricted to just 10kph, which is when we decided to park it and at that point we had covered 88.4km.
When the battery was at 100 percent SOC at the start of the test the display told us that the estimated range was 93km. The figure we ultimately got was slightly lower than that, but the range indicator gave us trustworthy readouts as the battery capacity dropped and it never caught us by surprise at the end. Ultimately the range you get will vary on a multitude of factors like your riding style, tyre pressures, prevailing traffic and weather conditions among others.
Even so, the e-Access delivered a commendable range number when you consider that its LFP battery isn’t as energy dense as the competition and it is a scooter that comes closest to achieving the claimed IDC number in the real world in our tests. This was in the more powerful Ride A mode and were one to use the more efficient Eco mode, the e-Access will return more range on a single charge.
Almost throughout the run, the e-Access delivered consistent performance until its SOC dropped down to 18 percent, which is when it automatically defaulted to Eco mode. Performance in Ride A is quite brisk and more than sufficient to keep up with and overtake big city traffic while simultaneously not overwhelming someone who’s transitioning over from an ICE vehicle. Even in Eco mode, you can comfortably keep pace with traffic and reach a speedo-indicated 55kph, which ensures you don’t get caught out if you are on a faster stretch of road.
With these numbers, Suzuki’s electric scooter returned an efficiency of 28.78km/kWh. The e-Access ships with a portable 600W charger which is capable of topping up a flat battery to full in 6hr20min. We verified the actual charging time to be 6 hours flat when the e-Access was plugged into a 12A 3-pin socket at our office.
Autocar India’s range testing
Before our real-world range test, the battery of our two-wheeler on test is fully charged, and we maintain tyre pressures as recommended by the manufacturer. The two-wheeler is then driven in a fixed loop in the city and highway (for electric bikes that are capable of doing so), and we maintain certain average speeds while following the speed limit. While doing so, we also ensure periodic rider swaps to ensure consistency and subject the vehicle to varying riding styles. The vehicle is run until its battery is completely drained and it shuts down or does not go ahead even if the screen is on.