Ather 450X Unveiled In India; Introduces Ownership Models

Ather Energy has unveiled  Ather 450X  today. The electric scooter comes packed with brand new features, advanced 4G connectivity and a brand new ownership model, at INR 99,000 (Bengaluru) up front and a monthly subscription.

Ather recently signed an MoU with the Tamil Nadu government to build a new 400,000 sq ft facility and is now moving to the next phase of its growth. Ather is scaling up its operations across the country with Ather 450X being available across 10 major cities in India beginning with Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad along with Bengaluru and Chennai.

Like Chennai & Bengaluru, Ather will equip other key markets with multiple fast charging Ather Grid points and Ather experience centres, prior to the deliveries planned in Q3 of 2020. To ease the public charging experience, Ather Grid will be available in locations like malls, cafes, supermarkets and tech parks.

Ather 450X is a significant step-up from Ather 450 with improvements across multiple key parameters. Ather 450X is the outcome of an award winning design philosophy and is quicker, more intelligent than its predecessor and comes in three new colours; Grey, Green and White. The scooter is powered with a 6kW PMSM motor, a new 2.9 kWh lithium ion battery and comes with 4 riding modes. In addition to Eco, Ride and Sport, Ather is introducing a new high performance mode, 'Warp'. Ather 450X can go from 0 to 40 kmph in just 3.3 sec in the Warp mode, making it the quickest electric scooter in its category and the perfect choice to navigate through city traffic.

The improvement in its battery has enabled a projected Indian Drive Cycle (IDC) range of 116 km and a real life range of 85 km in city conditions. Ather 450X will also charge 50% faster than before at 1.5km per minute, making it the fastest charging rate in the electric two-wheeler category.

Ather 450X will have a 4G SIM card and Wi-Fi along with Bluetooth connectivity, allowing riders to manage phone calls and music on the touchscreen dashboard. The new 7” touchscreen dashboard, comes with a color depth of 16M and a Snapdragon Quad Core processor. Ather 450X utilises Android Open Source to offer map navigation, On-board diagnostics and other unique features like Over-the-air updates, Auto Indicator off and Guide-me-home lights.

The Ather mobile app will continue to offer personalised ride statistics, charging status, push navigation and more functionalities like theft & tow detection, live location & vehicle state tracking, voice assistant and welcome lights. Ather 450X will support connected accessories like smart helmets and tyre pressure monitoring systems (TPMS).

Tarun Mehta, CEO and co-founder, Ather Energy "With Ather 450, we wanted to build a vehicle that breaks the mould of what an EV can do in India. Over the last year and a half, the scooters on the road have provided tremendous data and our online community is active with thousands of members. With over 6 million KM of on-road data from our existing riders and the invaluable feedback from our community, we have built Ather 450X which raises the bar on almost every key metric."

Ownership Model:

Ather has redefined the ownership and purchase models for Ather 450X scooter. With another first in the country, Ather 450X will be offered with new innovative flexible varianting options in the form of performance packs. This will enable customers the flexibility to switch between performance packs as well as receive free battery replacement in the event of battery degradation, ensuring consistent performance throughout the registered life of the scooter.

Ather 450X will be offered with two performance pack options: Pro & Plus that owners can switch between at their convenience. Each pack has been designed to offer a variety of smart and connected features and ride capabilities. Owners will no longer be limited by fixed variants and vehicle models.

With the new ownership model, the upfront cost of the Ather 450X will be INR 99,000 (ex-Bangalore) along with a monthly subscription of INR 1699 for the Plus and INR 1999 for the Pro.

In Delhi and Maharashtra, Ather 450X owners may also benefit from the EV subsidy offered by the states which is currently an additional amount of approximately INR 14500 and INR 5000, respectively.