Simple One First Ride Review: Likes And Dislikes

Simple had made big claims, but has it delivered on all fronts?

The Simple One has been one of India’s highly anticipated electric scooters, thanks to its segment-leading claimed range and performance. However, almost a year after its launch, we finally rode the electric scooter on a closed circuit. Here’s what we liked and disliked about the pre-production unit of the Simple One:

Likes

Design

The Simple One looks very appealing in the flesh and it’s not just because of its sporty design, but the finer details as well. For starters, the LED indicators are neatly integrated with the small winglets on the apron. Then there’s the chrome finish inside the headlight unit which brings out the premiumness of the scooter. Even the taillight’s LED units have intricate details that add to the visual drama. The taillight does seem to be inspired by the Ducati Panigale V4, but given how well it's going with the overall design, we are not complaining.

Performance

One of the highlights of the Simple One was its claimed performance, and the company has managed to pull it off in the real world quite well. The ‘Eco’ mode, unlike on Ola, is usable in the city and can go all the way up to 45kmph. Even the ‘Sonic’ mode is exciting and we managed to achieve a speedo-indicated 104kmph on the limited stretch in this mode. However, we would have loved it if the tuning of the modes were slightly different for initial acceleration to aid quick overtaking.

Simple has nailed the throttle calibration as well. Unlike the Ola S1 Pro, there's no lag in the throttle response and is pretty accurate and as natural as an ICE scooter, something that we have seen on the Ather 450X.

Handling

The Simple One's impressive performance is complemented by an equally capable chassis. Though we can only tell about the suspension once we put it through its paces via a proper road test, we can tell you that Simple has put a lot of thought into the riding dynamics. The e-scooter is very light on its feet and is easy to steer. Be it under hard acceleration or even while cornering, you always feel connected and in control of the One.

Some credit can be given to the new MRF Nylogrip Zapper N tyres which are so good in cornering that we ended up scrapping the floorboard panel quite often. 

Braking

Simple has backed up the e-scooter with some great braking hardware too. There's enough feedback at the lever and there's a good amount of braking progression as well. Even when bringing it to a halt from 90kmph, there was no drama and even with the combined braking system, the One didn't squeal or had its rear stepping out.

Dislikes

Quality

The overall quality and the level of fit and finish is the chink in the armour of the Simple One. The e-scooter had poorly-finished edges and inconsistent fitment all around. Even the routing of the rear brake line was in a way that it would get pinched when you ride with a pillion. However, Simple has assured that these issues would be fixed when the scooter hits production.

Seat 

Now we are going into a zone of nitpicking, but another small issue with the Simple One is the seat. The sculpted structure has a weird angle that forces you to slide forwards under hard braking. For the pillion passenger, there's enough space, but more room would have been appreciated, especially when you consider the performance on offer.

Verdict

Simple had made big claims last year, and having ridden the One now, it seems to us that the marque has been working hard to deliver on those promises. The One has the design that will demand a second glance, packs performance that could pose a serious threat to the competition and is backed up by a bunch of modern features and capable hardware.

Being a young company, meeting certain quality standards straight off the bat may not be possible, but these pre-production units were very poorly built. However, seeing how the brand has got its fundamentals right, we expect the quality to improve in the production model.

Simple is aiming to deliver the product by Diwali this year, and if it delivers on the promises, we could have a new king in the premium e-scooter segment, especially when you consider that Simple is offering a promising package like this at an ex-showroom price of Rs 1.10 lakh.