Globally, the idea of portable personal mobility took shape a lot of years back. The concept of having a foldable electric scooter has been gaining popularity internationally and the same trend will soon be accepted in India as well. As of now, the market is disorganised in terms of safe and reliable options but Gleeve aims to change this completely. We spent a few days with their Protos model and this is what you need to know about it.
Size Matters
This foldable electric scooter is small enough to make you think twice. However, don’t be fooled by its dimensions as it did impress us a lot overall! It weighs in at just 17.5 kilos which means picking it ins’t a big task. To make it truly portable, it takes a small press of your foot and within a second, the vertical handlebar arm collapses down. You can even make the horizontal handlebar narrower – both the grips on either ends can be bend down completely. This means the Protos becomes tiny enough to be stowed away in the boot of even small hatchbacks. At the same time, when you want to ride it, the height of the handle bars is adjustable. Likewise, it also comes with an option to mount a small seat on the rear of the standing platform.
Heart of the matter
The Gleeve Protos comes with a 250 watts, 36 Volt BLDC motor. Given its low weight, this motor is peppy enough to put a smile on your face. Giving this motor all the juice is a 15.6 Ah lithium-ion battery that takes about 3 hours for a full charge in and in turn, can give you a riding range of as much as 55km. But this depends on how you ride it. There are three speed modes and these can be controlled from the two buttons placed inside the little speedometer console. The modes give you option to limit the top speed to 10, 18 and 25 km/h respectively. And with a heavy rider like me (100+ kgs), I did see 25 on the speedometer easily. But ride it this way and I am sure range would drop significantly.
Feature loaded
Gleeve has worked hard to make the Protos useful for next-gen clients. For example, it comes with a cruise mode – yes, this on a low cost foldable electric scooter. It also has regenerative electronic braking system – another surprise here. And then something that Gleeve calls as ‘Kick Start Option’. This feature is where the Protos will not move ahead (from a standstill) on accelerator inputs alone. You need to push it ahead with one feet (like you do on a skateboard) and this takes off some initial load from the motor. Clever. It also comes with a USB charging port, little headlight, lower deck lights (they look cool), a brake light and self-error diagnostics.
Riding it
Both me and team mate Jatin (under 75kg) rode the Protos a lot. This included parking lots and narrow lanes of Gurgaon. Happy to report that this little thing rides well enough to make you smile. Acceleration is brisk and even doing this while standing does not make you feel nervous. Yes, the tyres look tiny but you can still take curves while riding it at its top speed. Talking of which, while the rear wheel is solid (no air..), the front is a tubeless one. You also have a double coil underbelly rear suspension and a triple spring front suspension unit. These do the job while riding over speed breakers or smaller potholes. That said, the Gleeve Protos folding electric scooter isn’t mean for larger public roads. The battery makes up for big proportion of the weight and this is placed in the standing platform. This also keeps the center of gravity low enough.
Costing & Usage
Electric vehicles are never cheap and this is also the case with the Protos. It is priced at Rs 44,444 and they provide free delivery anywhere in NCR. This price might sound high but then, there is nothing like this on sale in India. It has been tested and approved by NATRAX, it makes use of aircraft grade aluminium and feels very sturdy enough. At less than 10 paise per km, running costs are shocking low as well. As a last mile connectivity option, or a transport solution for big campuses, resorts and townships, this clever little folding electric scooter makes a lot of practical sense. Want one? Get in touch with them via their website.
