With electric scooters now mainstream in the Indian market, one cannot help but notice that these hi-tech two-wheelers have evolved to offer a user experience that imitates the smartphones that we carry with us.
From detecting falls to having a passcode lock-unlock feature, electric scooters today certainly seem to be inspired by smartphones and deliver a user experience suitable for a tech-savvy generation. Here are a few examples of how the electric scooter has evolved to offer features similar to an iPhone.
1. Find My Scooter:
Just like Apple’s ‘Find My iPhone’, popular electric scooters such as the Ather 450 and the Ola S1 series offer a ‘Find My Scooter’ function. Users are able to track the live location of their two-wheeler using a mobile application, which makes locating their electric scooter a lot easier than before. This also helps in several other use cases, including remote lock-unlock and anti-theft alerts.
2. Passcode Lock-Unlock:
In 2021, Ola added Keyless lock-unlock functionality to its S1 and S1 Pro scooters, ditching the traditional key altogether. Their Operating Software (OS) allows for unlocking the scooter via the mobile app, through a passcode or via a digital key generated on the user’s smartphone. With Ola positioning its software as an ‘OS for scooters’, the approach reminds us of how Apple promotes its iOS as more than just software. Ola users can also set up multiple rider profiles to suit different requirements, similar to Apple IDs.
3. Fall Detection Feature:
Just like your Apple Watch and iPhone, the Ather 450X scooter can detect when it has been in a crash or tipped over. The feature first came with Ather’s Move OS 2 software update and is similar in concept to Apple’s fall-detect feature in their smartphones and wearable devices.
4. (Over-The-Air) OTA updates:
Similar to a smartphone, smart scooters such as Ola and Ather tw-wheelers are OTA update-enabled. This means that software updates can be periodically dispatched to these electric scooters to improve performance or deliver new features such as new riding modes, user-interface changes and more.
The key takeaway is that electric scooters and EV brands today have a big focus on the product ecosystem, an attractive user experience and lifestyle branding, similar to what Apple has achieved with its iPhone and other smart devices. The ‘smart device’ approach optimises the user experience and offers a clear distinction when compared to traditional ICE two-wheelers. While flying scooters may still be a generation away, at least smart scooters are officially mainstream today.