TVS iQube S

The TVS iQube is a scooter I love and adore and it’s one of the electric scooters we recommend the most. I had one for 6 months and I put a good 4000km on it. For context, the office was the only place I charged it at, meaning I had to return to the office every 100 odd kilometres to get it juiced up. And yet, I used the scooter for pretty much everything I did in and around the city. So what exactly makes this electric scooter so likeable? Here’s all you need to know about it if you’re thinking about getting one home. 

TVS iQube design

The iQube’s design is something everyone in the family will like and that’s a very important factor for any family scooter. As lovely as the Ather 450X’s looks are for us young enthusiasts, my parents found it a bit too edgy and sharp for their liking. It wasn’t ‘safe’ enough for them. And that’s where something like the iQube comes into play. It is a bit more curvy and has flowing panels. And it does all of that without looking boring or dated. It still looks fresh and nice to look out and in the sea of Activas and Jupiters, my iQube still stood out in parking lots. 

TVS iQube colours

The iQube is available in a lot of colours. The 3.1kWh variant of the base iQube has five colours: Copper Brown, Starlight Blue, Pearl White, Walnut Brown, and Titanium Grey. Then there’s the 3.5kWh base variant, which has an additional Celebration Orange colour. Of these, the Blue colour does look awfully nice. And if you’re feeling a bit more adventurous, the Celebration Orange is stunningly bold and it’d be my pick of the lot. 

The iQube S variant is on sale in 3 colours: Magnificence Purple Beige, Harlequin Blue Beige and Mercury Grey Gloss. Surprisingly, the top-spec iQube ST (3.5 and 5.3kWh) only has 3 colours on offer: Titanium Grey, Starlight Blue, and Copper Brown.

TVS iQube Wheels

The iQube comes with 12 inch wheels both front and back and both use 90/90-12 tyres. Interestingly, if you look at the rear wheel and wonder why it looks like it's been filled with a round box - that's because it houses the hub motor. The iQube’s electric motor sits inside its own wheel which reduces exposed components like a chain or a belt drive. The front wheel is also a 12-inch alloy which has diamond-cut elements and looks quite cool. 

TVS iQube build quality

The iQube’s finish levels are fine from a distance, but the cost cutting measures are visible when you get close and start inspecting. There are panel gaps here and there and some of the finishing doesn’t feel very premium. And over the period of 6 months that I had the scooter, a couple of the nuts and bolts had caught a bit of rust as well. The most annoying thing that happened with my scooter was that both footpegs went loose and they’d just keep dangling inward and outward as I rode. While these aren’t things that would make you cancel your buying decision, they’re important for you to note.   

TVS iQube Safety Features

The iQube doesn’t really have a whole lot of safety features. There’s no ABS and neither does it have any sort of traction control system. What might give you a bit more peace of mind are features like geo-fencing, crash and fall alerts, vehicle tracking and anti-theft alerts. Crash alerts are available as standard on all variants, while the other aforementioned safety features come as a part of TVS SmartXonnect. 

TVS iQube Convenience Features

In terms of features, the iQube really has it all. There’s turn-by-turn navigation, call and SMS alerts and other things that might make your everyday commuting a bit easier. 

Storage and Practicality (4/5)

TVS iQube Underseat Storage

The TVS iQube has a solid 32-litre underseat storage space that also has a USB charging port. It’s on par with the competition and the boot will gobble up luggage. Be it little impromptu shopping or full blown visits to the supermarket, the boot ate up everything I threw at it. That said, the charger is a chunky one so it will eat up into the space if you intend to keep it in the boot. 

TVS iQube Floorboard Space

The iQube’s floorboard is fairly large and will easily accommodate a backpack. Every time I was riding two up, I could easily keep my backpack beside my feet and my feet would still have enough space on the floorboard. And mind you, I have size 10 feet, so it will be spacious enough for most users. 

TVS iQube Hooks and other storage options

The iQube has a hook right under the tip of the seat, before the underseat storage space starts. But that’s about it and the scooter has no other storage options except the boot itself. And that’s a bit of a miss because I think TVS could’ve given the scooter at least a cubby hole to make it more practical. 

TVS iQube Rider Comfort

Comfort is where the TVS iQube is just brilliant. It has a spacious seat that feels almost sofa-like soft the moment you get on it. Now while I (6’0) found my knees a bit close to the apron, most people in the office were very happy with the space on offer. Even I didn’t have much to complain about, for I could always scoot back a little and have more space for my knees.

TVS iQube Pillion Comfort

The seat’s softness makes it quite pleasant for the pillions too. Get your parents, grandparents or even friends as your pillions and they will really like the comfort on offer. That said, there’s one thing you need to factor in. The seat is not only soft, it’s very soft. So while short city commutes were fine, I found my backside got a bit sore after about 40-45 minutes into the ride. And that time will get shorter if you’ve a pillion onboard. With the extra weight, both you and the pillion will start sinking into the seat at a faster rate and it’ll leave you both with a sore backside after about 30-35 minutes, depending on your weights. 

TVS iQube Motor Details

The TVS iQube is powered by a 4.4kW hub-mounted motor. It’s an extremely silent motor and I mean extremely silent. Yes, electric scooters are obviously silent, but I was used to at least a whine from the motor, like what we get with the Ather 450X. But the iQube’s motor is supremely silent to the point where you’d literally hear nothing from it. While it took me a bit of time to get used to it, I started enjoying it once I did. I felt at peace with the lack of noise and it helped me focus on the road better.  

TVS iQube City Performance

The iQube’s city performance is easy-going and very likeable. The power delivery is smooth and it makes the transition from a petrol scooter to an electric one very easy. The best part is that instead of restricting its acceleration, the iQube starts restricting its top speed as your range depletes. So even when my battery charge was under 10 percent, while my overall top speed was restricted to about 50kmph, its acceleration was still brisk and it didn’t feel like a struggle. 

Keeping things even more simple are just the two riding modes: Eco and Power. And choosing between them is very easy: Eco for the city and Power for the highway, that’s it. Eco mode is surprisingly brisk even in the city and I loved it. Even those who like riding at a rapid pace will find Eco mode’s power delivery smooth and punchy and it makes overtaking delightfully easy. 

TVS iQube Highway Performance

Out on the highway, the iQube is potent and holds its own nicely. The scooter maintains 70-75kmph effortlessly and if you have a bit of highway runs on your everyday commutes, the iQube performed admirably. That said, I’d recommend you to keep your highway jaunts to a minimum. Family electric scooters aren’t tuned for performance so maintaining high speeds eats into their batteries at a quicker rate. This isn’t an issue with the iQube, but more to do with family scooters in general, so it’s just something for you to keep in mind. 

TVS iQube Range

The iQube’s range varies according to the variant you buy. The standard iQube’s base 2.2kWh variant has an IDC-certified range of 94km, while the same figure for the iQube S 4.7kWh variant stands at 175km. 

TVS iQube Charging times

The charging times too vary from variant to variant. The base variant with the smallest 2.2kWh battery pack can be charged from 0-80 percent in 2 hours 45 minutes. The same for the S 4.7kWh variant is 4 hours. Now while the 950W charger can be plugged into a standard socket, it’s quite a bulky charger. If you intend to carry it around everywhere, it will eat up a fair bit of the underseat storage space. One jugaad that I did was to pack it up in a backpack and put the backpack on the floorboard. The latter is very important because if you put it on your back (as I did once), you might soon have a sore back. 

TVS iQube Underpinnings

The iQube’s underpinnings are quite basic, something you’d expect from a family scooter. There’s a telescopic fork at the front and twin shock absorbers at the rear. Wheels and tyres at both ends are an identical 90/90-12. The tyres had a reasonable amount of grip even in the wet and I had no complaints from them. 

TVS iQube City Handling

While the iQube isn’t a very sharp handler like the Ather 450X, it’s definitely more fun and engaging than you’d think. I had a great time commuting on mine because of the way it could change directions and just filter through traffic effortlessly. Even whatever corners I faced in the city could be taken at a bit more speed than what I thought. 

TVS iQube Highway Handling

The iQube S’ almost 119kg kerb weight isn’t exactly super light but how it helps is in making the scooter feel super stable out on the highway. Even if you change lanes rapidly, the scooter has a slightly hefty feel to it, which makes it feel stable. 

TVS iQube Braking

Braking is another department where the scooter is reasonable. The front disc brake has just enough bite to get the scooter stopped in time but without being too sharp to use for the older people in the family. 

Ride Comfort (4/5)

TVS iQube Ride Quality

The iQube’s biggest highlight is arguably its ride quality. Its suspension is soft and super plush. Be it riding solo or with a pillion, the suspension feels like it’s soaking up everything and will isolate you from our ugly potholes very nicely. And that very soft suspension doesn’t feel out of place on the highway. Maintaining high speeds and even changing lanes at 70-75kmph feels nice and stable. 

Should you buy the TVS iQube?

If you’re in the market for a family electric scooter, it doesn’t get much better than the iQube. It’s comfortable, has good range, is convenient to use and hence ticks all the super important boxes for a family electric scooter. More importantly, with the launch of BaaS (Battery as a Service) variants, the iQube got a whole lot more affordable with prices starting from as low as Rs 59,999 (effective ex-showroom). If bought outright, it still costs 20-25 percent more than its petrol rivals, but you can easily save that much money over a period of 3-4 years in the form of lower maintenance costs and lack of spending on petrol. 

TVS iQube Variants

There are a total of 5 iQube variants on offer. Apart from the different colours (mentioned in the colours section above), the other differences lie in the ranges (94-212km IDC-certified), top speeds (75-82kmph), weight (110-132kg), charging times, and features. The S and ST variants get a bigger 7-inch TFT console and the ST’s console is touchscreen enabled. And all of this can make things a bit confusing, so we’re here to help. 

If your budget is really tight, we’d recommend the base 2.2kWh variant. The 94km certified range doesn’t sound a lot on paper but in the real world, a 90-odd kilometre range on a scooter is enough for roughly a week’s running. And if you don’t mind spending a little bit extra, you could get the3.5kWh variant. You get a 145km certified range and any figure close to that is way more than what a scooter usually needs in about a week. In short, these variants are the only ones you really need to think about. The iQube S and ST sounds very fancy on paper but do you really need a range of 175km or 212km, that too on a family scooter? It sounds like an overkill and the Rs 1.59 to Rs 1.61 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi), price tag makes it very expensive! 

TVS iQube vs Ather Rizta

The youngsters in the family might like the Ather Rizta a bit more, given its futuristic, more modern design language. But the Rizta lacks the brilliant comfort that the iQube has, something that’s very important for a family scooter. So if you need a scooter for everyone in the family, the iQube has that edge over the Rizta. 

TVS iQube vs Bajaj Chetak

The Bajaj Chetak brings an old school taste that the older people in the family might like more. That said, its performance isn’t as brisk as the iQube and it doesn’t feel as much fun either. So in terms of striking a balance between being ‘safe’ enough for the older people while bringing a bit of fun element for the youngsters, the iQube has a bit of an edge over the Chetak.