Yamaha has recently entered the Indian electric scooter market with a two-pronged approach. The first half of the equation is the River Indie-based EC-06 and the other is the Aerox E. The electric Aerox is a self-developed product and will be positioned in a more premium manner upon launch.
Yamaha Aerox E Design And Quality -
You’ll be hard pressed to tell apart the Aerox E from its petrol-powered counterpart at first glance, especially from the front. However, once your eyes make their way to the rear, you’ll start noticing the differences. The bright blue-coloured swingarm-mounted motor as well as the new white colour are some of the most recognizable ways to spot an electric Aerox.
On the whole, I quite like the sharp and edgy design of the Aerox E and quality seems to be quite good in general too. You’ve got new switchgear to complement the 5-inch colour TFT display - which feels a little smaller than its dimensions suggest. The display has Bluetooth connectivity for call/notification alerts, music playback and other such features. You’ve got a rear disc brake too (replacing the Aerox 155’s drum) as well as single-channel ABS and traction control here. At 139 kilos, the Aerox E weighs 13kg more than the petrol Aerox and also has a 10mm longer wheelbase.
Yamaha Aerox E Range And Charging -
The frame is similar to the petrol Aerox, but modified to accommodate the 3kWh battery that’s split into two removable packs of 1.5kWh, weighing 13 kilos each, and the swingarm-mounted electric motor.
Since you get two packs, you can also run the Aerox with just one installed, but Yamaha says its performance will be reduced when using it like this. Thanks to the batteries being located under the seat, bootspace on the Aerox E has seen a substantial drop from the petrol version’s 24.5 litres to 15 litres.
You get a 650W charger with the Aerox E and topping up both batteries from flat to full takes 6 hours and 20 minutes. There is also the option of charging them via a separate dock that you can keep at home but you’ll need to pay an additional Rs 18,000 for this apparatus.
Yamaha Aerox E Riding Position and Comfort -
Just like the petrol Aerox, this electric version has rather tight dimensions which result in a very cramped riding position, especially for taller riders. People close to or above the 6 foot threshold will find their knees fouling with sharp body panels on the front apron which is quite unpleasant and exacerbated by the shape of the seat. Another unwanted occurrence is that your left knee will keep bumping against the storage cubby and inadvertently open it.
On this electric version of the Aerox, the seat has been reprofiled quite significantly and it has much more padding which has also raised the perch to 812mm, a full 22mm taller than the ICE Aerox. In relative terms, the Aerox e’s seat is better than its petrol counterpart but it's still not a nice place to be. That’s because of the seating position. The rider’s section of the seat is sloped downward as is the floorboard, which means you’re constantly being pushed up against the front apron. And as a consequence of the taller seat height, shorter folks will find it relatively more difficult to get their feet down.
What is also a downer is that Yamaha has used the same suspension units as the Aerox 155 and that has resulted in a rather poor riding experience. The fork is too soft and bottoms out even over medium-sized bumps and the twin shocks are stiff, which results in a jarring ride.
Yamaha Aerox E Performance and Handling -
Then again, comfort has never been the Yamaha Aerox’s strong point. What has been is its energetic performance. The Aerox E’s swingarm-mounted motor makes 9.4kW and 48Nm of torque and Yamaha claims a top speed of 95.5kph - numbers that seem very promising on paper. Unfortunately, this doesn’t translate into real-world performance. You have three riding modes - Eco, Standard and Power. As expected, Eco has a dull throttle response and restricts top speed to maximise range and Standard mode is just about okay for daily use. The disappointment is that even switching to the top Power mode also doesn’t result in a drastic shift in performance.
Power mode simply doesn’t feel quick enough on a sporty offering from Yamaha. With a pillion on board, it struggled to maintain momentum up some of the steep slopes in Aamby Valley City and dropped below 40kph, even in Power mode! To give this some perspective, the Aerox E in Power mode felt noticeably slower than the lower powered Yamaha EC-06 in its Sport mode.
Now Yamaha does offer a temporary ‘Boost’ function which gives you maximum output - which is when the scooter really comes alive - but only for 10 seconds at a time. The performance with Boost mode activated is what the Power mode should have been on its own. To make matters worse, the Boost mode gets deactivated if you close the throttle and it does so even if you have some of your allocated ten seconds left. So if you momentarily close the accelerator for a bump or traffic, you’ll have to wait a full 30 seconds before the boost is available again.
The result is that it’s very hard to actually use the performance that the Aerox E’s spec sheet promises for any meaningful amount of time.
Yamaha Aerox E Price and Verdict -
With all of these compromises when it comes to performance as well as comfort and practicality, the Aerox E is proving to be a hard sell. Its range is nothing to write home about and existing problems from the petrol Aerox like the stiff suspension and cramped ergos have been carried forward here.
Most of all, it's likely to be very expensive and while Yamaha hasn't revealed the price yet, it is likely to be well over Rs 2 lakh ex-showroom. At this price, it is going to be facing a serious uphill battle and will make for a hard sell for Yamaha.