Why your electric scooter never does its IDC range: the ARAI test, explained

Every electric scooter brochure in India carries a big range number with three letters next to it: IDC. TVS lists 212 km of IDC range for the iQube ST 5.3 kWh. Ola lists 320 km for the S1 Pro+ 5.2 kWh. Ather lists 161 km for the top Rizta. Almost no owner sees those numbers on the road, and that is not a scam. It is what the certification test was designed to produce.

The short answer

IDC stands for Indian Driving Cycle. It is a laboratory cycle run on a chassis dynamometer, and for every L category vehicle, which is what your scooter is, India's range standard AIS-040 (Rev.1):2015 says the cycle "shall be IDC". The cycle tops out at 42 km/h. There is no highway stretch in it, no pillion with shopping bags, no 38 degree afternoon, no headwind, no potholed stretch of Outer Ring Road where you brake and accelerate twenty times a kilometre.

So the IDC figure is best read as a comparison tool, not a promise. Two scooters tested the same way can be ranked against each other. Neither will give you that number on your commute.

What the test actually does

AIS-040 starts with a normal overnight charge of the battery pack, with charging time not exceeding 12 hours. The vehicle is then discharged on the cycle. The standard also describes a steady speed discharge run at 70 per cent plus or minus 5 per cent of the vehicle's maximum 30 minute speed. The run is stopped when the vehicle can no longer hold 65 per cent of that maximum 30 minute speed, or when the onboard instrumentation tells the rider to stop, or after 100 km, whichever comes first.

Read that again and the gap makes sense. A gentle, low speed, repeatable cycle rewards exactly the things that kill range in the real world: hard acceleration, sustained speed above 60 km/h, and constant stop-start.

Because every maker runs the same cycle, the IDC number scales almost linearly with battery size. TVS goes from 114 km on the 2.3 kWh iQube to 212 km on the 5.3 kWh ST. Ola goes from 176 km on the 3 kWh S1 Pro to 320 km on the 5.2 kWh Pro+. That tells you something real about the pack. It does not tell you what you will get.

What owners actually see

Ather, which is based in Bengaluru, has quoted a second number for years. In an older generation 450X with a 116 km ARAI certified figure, Ather's own TrueRange was 85 km in Eco, 70 km in Normal and 60 km in Sport. ZigWheels rode that scooter on a mixed city route and recorded 91.4 km in Eco, and found that a spirited rider in Sport burned half the battery in 21 km. Same scooter, same battery, a range spread of more than 30 km depending on the right wrist.

A useful rule when you shop: assume real range of roughly two thirds of the IDC figure in mixed city riding, less if you ride in Sport, less again with a pillion, on a gradient, or in cold weather. If a scooter needs to cover a 45 km round trip daily with a charge margin, a 123 km IDC rating is comfortable and a 114 km one is workable. Judging it by the headline alone is how people end up range anxious by month two.

Also check what the maker quotes in the same breath. Some list only IDC. Some list IDC alongside a real world or true range figure. The second number is unregulated and set by the company itself, so compare it only within one brand, never across brands.

Sources

• AIS-040 (Rev.1): Electric Power Train Vehicles, Method of Measuring the Range
• TVS iQube official model page
• Ola S1 Pro official model page
• Ather Rizta official model page
• ZigWheels: EV Simplified, claimed vs real-world range of two-wheelers