NIU N1S: Best Electric Scooter in Nepal?

Motor Vehicle Company, the authorised distributor of NIU scooters has launched the NIU N1s in Nepal. There are quite a lot of electric scooters on the market now but the NIU N1s promises to be different. With aggressive marketing and premium after-sales service, the company aims to be the leader in the electric automotive space.

First things first, the NIU N1s doesn't come cheap. The company has priced the NIU N1s quite a bit higher than the competition. The asking price for this scooter is Rs.2,65,000. Most of the mainstream scooters can be have had for under 2 lakhs. As such, there's a big question about the competitiveness of the product. But the company claims that their scooter is better than the rest of the competition and offer features that are unheard of. And that's kind of true.

The NIU N1s has a range of 80KM and has a top speed of 45km/h. The battery pack can be charged from 0% to 100% in under 6 hours. And the other thing to love about the battery charging is the fact that you can actually remove the battery from the scooter and have it charged at your living room! Also, you can leave for the office, carry the battery with you and have it charged up while you work! And since we are talking about the battery, it does come with 2-year warranty. The company claims that the battery will last at least 600 full cycles (that's 48,000KM). The battery may need to be replaced after that. And with that comes one disappointing fact. The replacement of the battery won't be cheap and will run you Rs.85,000 or so.

The company is also branding the NIU N1s as a smart scooter. There are a lot of smart features which includes:

• Fully digital instrument cluster
• Battery Indicator in percentage
• GPS
• Remote Tracking
• Smartphone Connectivity
• Scooter Diagnostics through Mobile app
• Electronic Braking System

Powering the motor on the NIU N1s is the BOSCH developed 2400W motor. The scooter can cruise at speed up to 45km/hr but gives the longest range when you are not driving it hard. The claimed 80km range can be achieved when you drive at speed of 20km/h. And since it's an electric motor, peak torque is available as soon as you twist the throttle. There's 120Nm of torque at disposal just in case you are curious.

NIU N1s comes with 3 riding modes. Mode 1 is the most efficient mode whereas the Mode 3 gives the best performance. Mode 2 is the balance between the two. Mode 2 is the one I would recommend everyone to use because that's the mode in which you can have some fun while being frugal.

There are a lot of Chinese scooters in the Nepalese market right now. But none of the competition feels as upmarket as the NIU N1s. Also, the NIU is the only brand who is clear about their after sales service. The other competitor that NIU seems to have is the Honda Photon but I personally don't find it futuristic enough. Also, the range of just 65KM is kind of disappointing.

If you are in a market for a new scooter and are willing to pay premium, you should definitely check out the NIU N1s.