River Indie EV Gets Its First Upgrade: River, the Bengaluru-based electric scooter manufacturer, has introduced the first update to its Indie EV. The update includes a single-speed gearbox with a chain drive, a segment-first, to ensure a lower cost of ownership and increased durability. Additionally, the Indie electric scooter is now available in two new colors — Winter White and Storm Grey — alongside the existing options of Monsoon Blue, Summer Red, and Spring Yellow. It is priced at Rs 1,42,999 (ex-showroom, Bengaluru).
Apart from two new colour choices and the drive, the scooter remains identical to the version that was first launched in late 2023. It gets a twin headlight setup, lockable storage of 55 litres, with 12 litres in the glove box and 43 litres under seat storage, a large floorboard, forward-set foot pegs for the rider, and an LCD instrument cluster.
It is equipped with 14-inch wheels and three ride modes — Eco, Ride, and Rush. The battery setup also remains the same — a 4kWh unit that offers a claimed range of 110km on a single charge. The battery can be charged in 5 hours with a 750W charger.
Aravind Mani, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of River, said, “Since our launch in October last year, we have sold over 3000 Indies. We’ve been carefully listening to customer feedback and a lot of it has been incorporated in the new Indie. Our plan for the next two months is to launch stores in Coimbatore, Vizag, Hubli, Cochin, Belgaum, Vellore, Mysore and Uppal. We aim to have 25 River Stores across India by March 2025.”
Mazher Ali Baig Mirza, Head of Mechanical Design at River, added, “We have seen that a chain drive with single speed gearbox has several distinctive advantages. One, it is more durable. Second, the long term cost of ownership decreases with this upgrade. Third, it is easy to assemble and repair, and hence more scalable.”