Bird ES1+ is essentially a rebadged SuperSoco CUx electric scooter that will be assembled at Bird Mobility’s facility in Manesar
At last year’s Auto Expo we got a chance to see a plethora of upcoming electric vehicles (EVs), especially in the two-wheeler segment. While only a couple of them belonged to already established auto manufacturers, most of them were offerings from relatively new startup companies which are trying to break into the Indian automotive industry.
One of them was Bird Electric Mobility Pvt. Ltd.– a subsidiary of the Bird Group, which showcased its lightweight electric scooter ES1+. Since then there have not been many updates regarding the upcoming e-scooter now. The e-mobility company has now confirmed that at the time of its launch, ES1+ e-scooter will be priced around Rs 50,000 (ex-showroom).
New Terms Under MoU
This would easily make it one of the cheapest electric two-wheelers in the country. Furthermore, as per a recent update, the company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Australian e-mobility firm VMoto which has exclusive sales and marketing rights for VMoto and SuperSoco products across the globe except in China.
VMoto already retails a number of electric two-wheelers under the SuperSoco brand including TSX, TS, CPx, CUx and many others. The company will also launch its entry-level offering in the form of CUMini e-scooter.
As per the terms in the recent MoU, Bird Mobility would buy 20 sample units of the upcoming CUMini for trial this month. These trial units could be tested in a ride-sharing project funded by the Government of India in New Delhi.
The scooters could then be rebranded to the Indian entity at a later stage. ES1+ is essentially a rebadged CUx e-scooter which at the time of its unveiling during last year’s Auto Expo was announced to be assembled at Bird Electric’s plant in Manesar.
Design, Features & Specs
Speaking of ES1+ electric scooter, it adopts a minimalist approach to its design which features a sharp LED headlamp and an LCD instrument cluster and a premium set of switch gears. It gets a split-seat layout along with an LED taillight while its clean slate look gives it an understated image.
In terms of dimensions, the e-scooter measures 1782 mm in length, 727 mm in width and 1,087 mm in height. It offers a wheelbase of 1,217 mm while saddle height is very accessible at 720 mm. Ground clearance is pegged at 140 mm.
Coming to its specifications, it is powered by a 3Ah lithium-ion battery pack which drives a 1.6kW electric motor the same as in CUx. The e-scooter offers a range of 55km on a single charge while it can clock a top speed of 45 kmph.
It rides on 12-inch wheels and it tips the weighing scales at just 62kg. Hardware specs of the e-scooter include telescopic forks at front and twin-spring shock absorbers at rear. Braking duties are handled by disc brakes at both ends.
Expected Launch
Batteries on the e-scooter will be swappable and it will be brought to India as a CKD product from China and locally assembled in India. Earlier last year, Bird Electric had announced that ES1+ will be launched in Delhi-NCR first which will be followed by other tier-1 & tier-2 cities. Although an exact launch timeline hasn’t been revealed yet, we expect it to launch by mid-2021.
