Electric Cycles in Chennai

Hills? Forget it. The steepest thing most riders meet is the Kathipara flyover ramp, or the bridges over the Adyar and the Cooum. The real enemy is the air. April to June is hot, wet and salty, and in May Nungambakkam hits about 37 °C. Carry a bottle of water either way, and wipe the salt off the chain. On a plain cycle you arrive soaked. With assist, an 8 km ride from Adyar to Nungambakkam is a calm half hour.

Jobs sit along a few corridors. The IT belt on Old Mahabalipuram Road starts at Tidel Park in Taramani and runs past Perungudi and Thoraipakkam to Sholinganallur and Siruseri. Factory staff head for Guindy Industrial Estate, Ambattur or Ekkattuthangal. T. Nagar and Parrys are where everyone shops. Take the OMR service road from Velachery to Sholinganallur: roughly 10 km, and an easy e-cycle commute.

Chennai already knows shared cycles. The Greater Chennai Corporation launched its Smart Bike scheme at Marina Beach in 2018 and it grew to dozens of docking stations, mostly around the Marina, OMR and ECR. Owning an e-cycle works the same way for the metro. Ride to Guindy, Alandur or Thirumangalam, lock up, and carry on by the Blue or Green Line.

Then there's the north-east monsoon. Most of the 1,400 mm falls between October and December, and a cyclone can park heavy rain over the city for days. Velachery, K.K. Nagar and the subways go under. On red-alert days, stay home and keep the bike indoors. Dry it before you charge. Near Besant Nagar and Thiruvanmiyur the sea air eats chains quickly, so oil yours often.