India's home-built performance streetbike posts genuine highway numbers, a liquid-cooled motor, an 8.9 kWh pack, an aluminum frame. Here is where the 221 km claim really lands, what the thermal de-rating reports mean, and who it is for. Sources on everything.
A genuinely quick, proudly local performance EV with one asterisk: heat. The 221 km figure is an IDC lab number, Orxa itself cites 200 km plus in normal riding and less on the highway. Expect real highway pace (135 km/h, 0 to 100 in 8.9 s), about Rs 3.6 lakh out the door, and a thermal de-rating story worth verifying on your own test ride.
What we can verify today: Rs 3,60,000 ex-showroom Bengaluru, inclusive of the 1.3 kW standard charger, and not eligible for the FAME 2 subsidy. On-road price, insurance, and registration vary by state. Sources in §9.
Every module behind the headlines: who it is for, the range claim decoded, the heat question, the cost picture, and the standard scorecard. All sourced.
India's home-grown performance streetbike that finally posts highway numbers, as long as you do not push it hard for too long. Liquid-cooled 20.5 kW motor, 8.9 kWh pack, aerospace-grade aluminum frame, a genuine 135 km/h and 0 to 100 km/h in 8.9 s. Plan for real range below the 221 km IDC figure, a premium-for-India price near Rs 3.6 lakh, and verify the thermal de-rating story on your own ride. Here is exactly how we get there.
Start here, the right answer depends entirely on who is asking.
Same bike, very different answer depending on the rider. We lead every report with this so nobody buys the wrong machine.
The sweet spot. Genuine 135 km/h pace and an 8.9 kWh pack cover real intercity hops, and the liquid-cooled motor holds performance better than air-cooled rivals in normal riding.
The Mantis is a Bengaluru-built statement: aluminum frame, liquid cooling, real engineering rather than a re-badged import. If supporting a domestic performance EV matters to you, this is the pitch.
Pre-production track testing reported a high-temperature warning and aggressive de-rating into a low-power limp mode after only a couple of laps. Orxa said it would address this; verify it before you buy if you plan to hammer it.
At around Rs 3.6 lakh and no FAME 2 subsidy, the Mantis is premium for India. If you judge purely on cost per kilometer against mass-produced rivals, it will look expensive.
Same bike, two stories. The struck-through line is what the listing tells you; the big number is what to actually expect. The "why" is in Part C.
What is genuinely clever, and which "innovations" are really table-stakes. The part the brand's own page never tells you.
The Mantis is not a parts-bin build. Each badge tells you whether it is a real engineering edge, normal for 2026, or marketing gloss.
An all-aluminum frame and subframe, which Orxa calls a segment-first for India. Stiff, light, and a genuine engineering statement rather than a steel commuter chassis with a sport fairing.
★ Genuine edgeThe 20.5 kW BLDC motor runs liquid cooling, so it sustains performance better than air-cooled rivals in normal riding. It is also why the thermal-limit question under sustained hard load matters so much: cooling is the headline.
✓ SolidThe standard 1.3 kW charger takes 0 to 80% in about 5 hours; the optional 3.3 kW Blitz unit roughly halves that to about 2.5 hours. Useful flexibility, but there is no DC fast-charge option.
✓ SolidA home-grown performance EV rather than a re-badged import. Not a spec-sheet line, but a real reason buyers choose it, and part of why the price sits where it does.
★ Genuine edgeMarketing specs vs. the physics. The math is simple, battery capacity and a few formulas, so let us run it.
Convert the power spec to the unit everyone feels, then read which number is peak and which is sustained.
Orxa quotes a 20.5 kW peak motor. Convert to horsepower:
That peak is real and delivers the genuine 0 to 100 km/h in 8.9 s. The honest question is not the horsepower, it is how long the motor can hold it. Orxa does not publish a separate continuous rating, and the pre-production track reports of de-rating suggest the sustained ceiling under heat is lower than the 20.5 kW peak. We will not invent a continuous number Orxa has not published.
The headline range. The claim is not a lie, it is an IDC lab figure you will basically never reproduce on the highway. Here is the arithmetic.
Step 1, real energy in the tank. Orxa publishes an 8.9 kWh pack. The exact voltage and amp-hour split is not published, so we use the kWh directly rather than inventing a V times Ah figure.
Step 2, how much you spend per mile. Consumption (Wh/mi) is the whole game, and it explodes with speed because drag rises with the square of speed. The 137 mi (221 km) IDC figure implies very gentle, low-speed riding; the highway is a different story.
This is the Mantis line we would underline. Pre-production track testing reported aggressive thermal de-rating, and how Orxa resolved it is the single thing to verify on your ride.
During pre-production track testing, the bike reportedly showed a high-temperature warning and dropped into a low-power limp mode after only a couple of hard laps. Orxa stated it would address this before customer deliveries. We cannot independently confirm the production fix, so we report it as the open question it is.
In practice, this means the Mantis is built for genuine point-to-point pace, not repeated flat-out flogging. Owners also note the weight sits toward the front, which can blunt front-end feel. None of this contradicts the highway numbers; it just defines where they hold.
Charge time is just battery size ÷ charger power, so the right question is which charger you have.
The sticker is the start of the story, not the end. Here is what we can verify.
We show only what is sourced. Indian on-road costs vary by state, so we will not invent line items.
| Line item | Typical | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bike (ex-showroom Bengaluru) | ₹3,60,000 | Incl. 1.3 kW standard charger |
| FAME 2 subsidy | ₹0 | Mantis is not eligible |
| Blitz 3.3 kW fast charger (optional) | price TBC | Cuts 0 to 80% to ~2.5 hr |
| Insurance, registration, on-road | varies | State-dependent; confirm locally |
| Starter gear (helmet, gloves, armor) | varies | Non-negotiable at 135 km/h |
| Realistic out-the-door | ₹3,60,000 + | Plus on-road and gear, state-dependent |
Warranty, the heat caveat, and what owners report so far.
The Mantis is new and low-volume, so the owner-report base is thin. We report what is verifiable and clearly flag what is not yet known.
One scorecard, identical axes on every bike.
Every e-moto on the site is scored on these same eight axes, by the same rules, so a 7 here means the same thing as a 7 anywhere.
Our standing methodology, run identically on every e-moto, including bikes we would otherwise have reason to flatter.
The only honest way to compare two batteries. Where the V/Ah split is not published, as on the Mantis, we use the kWh directly rather than inventing it.
You never use 0 to 100%. The BMS holds a reserve and voltage tapers at the bottom. We assume ~88%.
Consumption is the lever: gentle low-speed sips, highway gulps. Drag rises with speed².
Always ask which number a spec quotes. Peak sells bikes; continuous moves them. The Mantis quotes a 20.5 kW peak; no separate continuous figure is published.
"Fast charging" is meaningless without the charger's wattage. The ×1.1 covers losses and taper.
| Cost assumption | We used | Change it if… |
|---|---|---|
| Annual mileage | varies (India data not published) | We did not estimate running costs we cannot source |
| Electricity rate | varies by state | Your utility differs |
| Taxes / on-road | state-dependent | Confirm RTO and insurance locally |
| Battery life | 3 yr / 30,000 km warranty | Long-term data not yet established |
| Resale | not yet established | Too new and low-volume to estimate |
We cite everything and date it, because specs, prices and rules change. Manufacturer figures are labeled as claims; real-world numbers are our estimates from the methodology above. Spot an error? Our corrections policy means we fix it in public.
Sources retrieved May 2026. Manufacturer pages state claimed specs; treat them as marketing figures, not independent tests. The thermal de-rating note reflects pre-production reporting and Orxa's stated intent to address it; confirm current production behavior before relying on it.