Revolt Motors RV 400, Indian electric bike: All you need to know

A true electric vehicle for Indian roads

Revolt Motors have just announced India's first commercially available electric bike, the RV 400 at an event in New Delhi. While there's still a month or so to go before the RV 400 hits the Indian roads, the bike brings along some never-before-seen features in the category.

The move towards electric vehicles is undoubtedly a commendable action, but only when the foundations are strong. As of now, there are no clear policies for electric vehicles laid down by the government of India apart from the usual rumors around the possible ban of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles in the country in the next few years.

Revolt Motors have partnered with a bunch of technology and services companies which forms the groundwork that has been developed to make the adoption easier. From companies like Airtel which provide their 4G e-SIM solution for the bike to RattanIndia Finance which offers a customized finance offer, Revolt Motors looks likely to have a definitive blueprint in place. The company revealed its partnership with Super SOCO, a European company known for its electric mopeds and we couldn't help but notice the similarity between the RV 400 and Super SOCO mopeds.

• The Bluetooth-enabled helmet will be offered as an option and is likely to cost Rs 4,500.
• Expect the company to begin sales of the helmet from next month. 
• Bookings for the RV 400 will commence from June 25. 
• The RV 400 is expected to cost around Rs 1 lakh (on-road).

Revolt RV 400 Price and Availability

Revolt Motors didn't reveal the price of its electric bike yet as it officially launches next month. However, if you're sold on the product already, Revolt Motors will start pre-bookings from June 25 on their website and Amazon India. Interested buyers can pay a pre-booking price of Rs 1,000 to pre-book the bike. The company has stated that the deliveries will start on July onwards, post the official launch.

Another catch is that only the people residing in New Delhi can pre-order the RV 400 as the company plans to get into other cities like NCR, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Nagpur, Ahmedabad and Chennai within the next four months.

We expect Revolt Motors to price the bike at around 1 Lakh INR when it officially launches in India.

Revolt RV 400 features and services

During the event, Rahul Sharma, founder of Revolt Intellicorp Pvt Ltd revealed some key features of the electric bike. The company kept a lot of features and the pricing under wraps for the launch event, when it happens next month.

Here's every feature of the Revolt RV 400 electric bike that we know about.

1. ARAI certified range of 156 km/charge and 85kmph top speed

Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) has certified the Revolt RV 400 for up to 156 km on a single charge. It makes for one of the longest range electric bike in India and is more than what the market currently offers.

The only other performance-centric feature that we have been able to uncover from the presentation is that the top speed of the Revolt RV 400 is 85 kmph.

2. Charge the battery anywhere or swap it for a new one

Revolt Motor's infrastructure relies heavily on Mobile Swap Stations which offer the rider a fully recharged battery in exchange of their depleted battery module. These battery swapping stations are dynamic and have a specific coverage area. 

Users can recharge the bike's battery anywhere as it is detachable and can be carried along inside the house where it can be plugged into any 15 Amp socket for around 4 hours to get recharged.

Besides, Revolt Motors also offers home delivery of the bike's batteries from the Revolt app, but it is currently unknown as to what kind of pricing this service will incur to the rider.

3. Control and monitor the bike with Revolt App 

Revolt Motor's electric bike supports 4G eSIM and Bluetooth using which it syncs up to the Revolt app on the rider's phone. The app allows users to remotely start the bike, find the nearest battery swapping station, real-time analysis of the bike, order replacement batteries, detailed statistics of trips, and geo-fencing, to name a few.

The app also allows users to preset the bike from the three available modes-- Eco, City, and Sport. We expect the company to shed more details on this at the time of launch.

4. Customizable exhaust sound

Being an electric vehicle, the RV 400 is silent by default. However, due to the sheer popularity and the cult surrounding custom exhaust sounds of bikes in India, the electric bike comes pre-loaded with four different exhaust sounds. More sounds can be downloaded from the internet and can be set as the exhaust audio, as and how the rider deems fit.

5. Voice control

While the company did not reveal the tech behind this feature, voice control was teased for the RV 400 by the end of the presentation. The company is expected to announce more details about key features and performance at the time of launch in July.

Update:

Revolt Motors will launch the RV 400 on 22 July 2019. Bookings of the electric bike are scheduled to commence from 25 June 2019 for a token amount of Rs 1,000. You can book one on Revolt’s website or on Amazon. The Revolt RV 400 will initially be available in Delhi, followed by NCR, Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Nagpur, Ahmedabad and Chennai.

Via TR