The Suzuki e-Access is the brand's first electric scooter for India and a ground-up new product, sharing little with the petrol Access beyond its name. Built on an entirely new platform, it makes a case for itself through longevity and reliability rather than outright performance or features. Here's what works in its favour and a couple of reasons it might not be for everyone.
Reasons to buy the Suzuki e-Access
Comfortable to ride and the reliability promise is real
The e-Access is a pleasant machine to spend time on. The ergonomics are neutral, the seat is flat and spacious, and the suspension is well-tuned – firm enough to feel taut without being harsh. Next, in terms of build quality, it is solidly put together with the kind of tactile feel that Suzuki two-wheelers are known for. The LFP battery chemistry offers a longer service life and lower thermal runaway risk than the NMC packs used by most rivals, which should translate to long-term ownership confidence.
Trustworthy range indicator
One area where the e-Access stands out is the accuracy of its range prediction. Once the system calibrates to your riding style, the distance-to-empty figure shown on the display is reliable. This is not something that can be taken for granted across the electric scooter segment, where optimistic range indicators that drop sharply under any real-world load are a common frustration. In our tests with Ride A mode, we covered just over 88km on a single charge – slightly below the 95km claimed IDC range, but within a reasonable margin.
Reasons to skip the Suzuki e-Access
Performance and range fall short for the price
The e-Access is slow by the standards of the electric scooter segment. In our tests, it took nearly 12 seconds to complete the 0-60kph sprint, which is not only slower than similarly priced rivals but also significantly slower than the petrol Access 125. The 88km real-world range is a reasonable figure in isolation, but rivals with similarly-sized batteries routinely return over 100km. The powertrain is also noticeably noisier than most other reputed electric scooters on sale today.
Boot space is woefully inadequate
The 17-litre underseat boot is the e-Access's most immediately frustrating shortcoming. At a time when most mainstream electric scooters offer 30-35 litres of storage – and some, like the Simple Wave offering nearly 70 litres – the e-Access's boot feels genuinely inadequate for daily use. The supplied charger barely fits inside once the cables are folded correctly, leaving almost no usable free space. This is a consequence of Suzuki positioning the battery pack vertically under the seat, and it is compounded by the fact that even the latest petrol Access 125 offers more boot space than the electric version.
With input from Dinshaw Magol
Ved Janve
Stephen Raj Antony
