With many car designs increasingly being inspired by members of the animal kingdom such as sharks, and cats, it was about time the PEV world followed suit.
Introducing the Kobra, the most comfortable seated electric scooter.
Kobra electric scooter with seat
The Kobra isn’t just any ordinary electric scooter. Its unique serpent-like design was created by industrial design firm PXID, the company behind many other famed electric scooters. However, in the Kobra, PXID has probably achieved their greatest hit yet.
Not overly complicated unlike PXID’s other e-scooter creations, the Kobra manages to merge simplicity, functionality and comfort into one neat package.
How simple is the Kobra? While every e-scooter out in the market today is trying to integrated foldability into their designs, the Kobra is going against the grain and is unashamedly non-foldable. By removing this feature, that solves a lot of issues with folding scooters like worn out folding joints. How many people actually fold their scooters anyway? This reduces maintenance issues with the Kobra down the road.
The Kobra does not fold, simplifying its design and increasing body rigidity
Everything is very neat with the Kobra from its cable management to its electronic dashboard, which makes you feel like everything is well thought out when it was first conceptualised.
On a Kobra, you actually feel like you are riding an electric mobility device that would still trend in the next decade but at the same time, it doesn’t feel too techie or futuristic. Especially that big electronic dashboard. Its lovely to look at and displays any information you will need at a glance.
The Kobra doesn’t suffer from an identity crisis. It is designed as a seated electric scooter and it followed through on that vision all the way. The seats are not removable unlike the stand up e-scooters that try to fit a detachable seat.
The Kobra has what its target rider wants from a pure seated electric scooter which is comfort, safety and reliability.
The saddle of the Kobra is spacious and cushiony, supported by a rear spring suspension which absorbs whatever those bumpy roads throw at it. The rear suspension can be adjusted for stiffness if you find yourself bouncing around too much. This is an improvement to the DYU which does not have a suspension and has a standard bicycle saddle which can cause butt aches during long rides.
Due to its lack of a folding handlebar and other moving parts like seat adjustment, the Kobra feels rigid and should remain rigid over time. This is in contrast to other seated e-scooters with adjustable seats, adjustable handlebars etc. where the folding joints start to wear out after a period of use and the overall ride becomes quite shaky.
The 160mm double disc brakes gives the Kobra decent stopping power in case of any emergencies. The Kobra’s braking system is similar to the DYU that we reviewed earlier.
Similar to the DYU, the brake hose are all neatly embedded inside the hollow frame of the vertical stem, adding to the tidiness of the whole system.
Integrated headlights and LED lights on the Kobra’s “hood” controllable by a switch on the handlebar allows for high visibility at night.
Similar to the DYU again, the Kobra uses a 12.5″ x 2.5″ thick air tire that provides plenty of grip and comfort while riding especially during wet weather.
And the Kobra comes equipped with a remote key starter together with a physical key lock. This is especially convenient for parking your Kobra outside while you make a quick getaway to the convenience store.
In terms of functionality, the Kobra does have many features that are similar to the DYU. However, performance wise, they perform quite differently. Equipped with a 48V drive train system, the Kobra gives very good torque when climbing upslope even from a zero start.
The Kobra comes with a few battery options: 7Ah, 10Ah and 12Ah, each giving 25km, 35km and 45km of range respectively. The 7Ah and 10Ah battery options is made for the Singapore market, while the 12Ah is an international option due to weight restrictions in Singapore. The 10Ah and 7Ah options come with quality Panasonic battery cells that are very reliable and have a long lifespan of typically 2 years or more.
We can only describe the Kobra in so many words. Watch the launch video of the Kobra here to truly get a sense of its quality.
Here is an independent review of the KOBRA by Authentec:
The Kobra is exclusively available at these distributors: Falcon PEV in Singapore and Streetwheels Philippines and Falcon Go in Thailand.
