Ampere Nexus ST road test, review

The Nexus is a handsome-looking scooter finished in this shade of Zanskar Aqua. Not only is it bright and eye-catching but it also has a beautiful pearlescent finish under direct sunlight. Its design cues are subtle and tastefully done, and its overall build quality is decent.

A deep cubby that’s usable, but the plastic surrounding it is quite sharp.

There is a deep storage compartment located under the handlebar, but the shape is odd, and the plastics have a sharp edge, which feels built to a cost. The boot can swallow up most half-face helmets but will struggle with a full-face one, especially with its bulky charger inside.

A deep cubby that’s usable, but the plastic surrounding it is quite sharp.

In terms of features, the Nexus gets an LED headlight that performs very well and a bright and legible 7-inch TFT display. However, the display isn’t very smooth and, at times, had a delayed response to my touch inputs. The UI could be nicer, and it is also a little harder to use with gloves.

7-inch TFT is legible even under direct sunlight but needs a better UI.

While the piano black switchgear looks premium, with its tightly packed buttons, it demands Blackberry levels of muscle memory to use. 

Its tightly packed buttons demand muscle memory to use.

The charging socket is located near the footboard and looks like a bit of an afterthought. Even the charger looks rather simple and not as well-designed as offerings from its rivals. Unplugging the charger involves pressing two release buttons simultaneously, which can get a little tedious.

The charging socket doesn’t look as premium as the rest of the scooter.

Despite its simplistic design, this charger is capable of juicing up the Nexus in around four hours. However, a bigger issue is the time it takes for the Nexus to boot up right after charging, which can sometimes take as much as five minutes in my experience. That is something that needs to improve. Overall, while this is a premium scooter, it could do with better attention to detail and finish.

Ampere Nexus

₹ 1.30 lakh * on road price (New Delhi)

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