Ather 450 was offered at an ex-showroom price of Rs 1.35 lakh
Ather Energy has just rolled off the last unit of its first e-scooter offering India. Exactly two after its launch in September 2018, the Ather 450 has been discontinued. During its two-year tenure, Ather 450 became one of the most popular electric scooters in the country.
Ather 450 was first unveiled way back in February 2016 with its aim to be launched in late 2016 or early 2017. However, production related issues kept on delaying the project which was finally launched in 2018 along with its low-powered sibling Ather 340. The latter was discontinued after a short period due to poor demand.
Speaking about the production coming to end, Ather said, “Here’s us bidding farewell to the 450. For us at Ather, it’s an important milestone on the road to bringing the 450X to life. Working through the restrictions posed by the pandemic, to ensure the wheels of our production keep moving, is no cakewalk. A huge shoutout to our team members who make it look like one!” Video below shows the last Ather 450 rolling off the production line.
Powertrain
Ather 450 drew its power from a Brushless DC motor which could provide a peak power of 7.2 bhp and 20.5 Nm of peak torque. The motor received its power from a 2.4 kWh battery pack which would take around 5-6 hours to get fully recharged. The e-scooter could accelerate from 0-40 kmph in 3.5 seconds while it could attain a top speed of 80 kmph. Ather Energy claimed a real-world range of 60 km in power mode and 75 km in economy mode.
Design & Features
The headlight is incorporated into the front apron. It gets an LED tail light which is neatly integrated into the side turn indicators along the body at rear. The design looked neat and was devoid of any flashy graphics or decals albeit the green strips on the rims of its alloys. It was surprisingly well-equipped with features such as a 7-inch touchscreen dashboard which came with on-board navigation from Google and inbuilt data connection, diagnostics, smartphone connectivity, reverse parking assist and so on.
Ather 450X – The Future
Ather Energy earlier this year revealed the 450X, which is a more premium and powerful version of the standard 450. The deliveries are set to begin from November in its first phase. In its initial phase, the 450X will be launched in 11 cities. These include Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Kozhikode and Coimbatore.
Before the commencement of deliveries, Ather plans to install fast-charging infrastructure across the mentioned places. The manufacturer is planning to install 10-15 charging stations in each city under phase 1. In addition to this, the Bengaluru-based e-scooter brand is also in talks with various premium business houses to come up with various Ather Experience Centres. Ather Energy is also in the process of developing another scooter based on the 450 called Ather 450 Plus.
