Okinawa Becomes First EV Brand To Reach Leh With The Praise e-Scooter

Electric two-wheeler maker Okinawa has announced the completion of a successful trip to Leh by its flagship e-Scooter Praise. With this, the company becomes the first electric two-wheeler brand to take its e-scooter to Khardung La Pass, one of the highest motorable roads, which is at a height of 18,380 feet. Okinawa says this is the first time that an electric vehicle has even attempted to scale a height of more than 18,000 feet, let alone complete it successfully. The journey was a part of the company's 'Praise De Himalaya' campaign and was flagged off from Gurugram, covering a distance of 1,350 km, over a period of 10 days.

Also Read: Okinawa Praise Electric Scooter Review

Okinawa Praise electric scooters journeyed from Gurugram to Leh

Commenting on the successful campaign, Jeetender Sharma, Managing Director, Okinawa Autotech said, "The 'Praise De Himalaya' campaign is the first and one-of-its-kind journey of an e-scooter to an extremely high-altitude zone where it is very difficult to attempt two-wheeler expeditions. While many apprehensions were raised on Praise's ability to complete such a difficult journey, we at Okinawa were confident of our vehicle's capabilities to complete the trip successfully. It is not every day that an e-vehicle comfortably completes a voyage of 1350 km and reaches a height of 18,380 ft."

Okinawa claims these harsh terrains were good testing grounds for the Praise's suspension, ergonomics and power

Okinawa claims that this trip helped them test the Praise e-Scooter's suspension, ergonomics, engine power, and load-taking capacity comprehensively in such harsh conditions, and the scooter showed little signs of wear and tear even after the completion of the trip. The riders had to cover different terrains across various destinations such as Ambala, Jalandhar, Pathankot, Banihal, Ganderbal, Sonamarg, Srinagar, Bhimbat, Lamayuru, Leh and finally Khardung La.

These Okinawa Praise e-Scooters were equipped with swappable a Lithium-ion battery

For this journey, the Okinawa Praise was equipped with swappable a Lithium-ion battery, which the company claims, was a big help in overcoming the long-range challenge its trip to Leh. The Lithium-ion battery offers a range 170-200 km on a single charge with top-speed ranging from 55 - 75 kmph under different speed modes. The fact that the company used detachable batteries for this trip made it easy for them to complete the journey, taking lesser stops to charge the electric scooter.

Also Read: Okinawa Praise E-Scooter: All You Need To Know

All that said, as of now, the swappable Lithium-ion batteries are not available for customers and the company plans to launch it later this year in September 2018. Currently, the Okinawa Praise available in the market is powered by a 72V/45 Ah lead acid battery, offering similar range and speed and takes a charging time of 6-8 hours.

Standard Okinawa Praise comes with a 72V/45 Ah lead acid battery

The features list on the Okinawa Praise also includes LED headlamps, fully-digital instrument cluster, LED daytime running lamps, large under seat storage compartment, and more.