Ather Energy has launched the much-awaited Ather 450X electric scooter. The company refers to the EV as the ‘Super Scooter’.
Ather Energy has launched the much-awaited 450X electric scooter at a starting price of Rs 99,000, ex-sh. It is offered in two packages: Plus and Pro; available at a monthly cost of Rs 1,699 and Rs 1,999, respectively, over the base price. The existing leasing and financing options are applicable to the new 450X.
During the time of ownership, Ather Energy lets you change the plan or package as and when you wish. There is also the option to buy the Ather 450X as a one-time payment scheme. With the Plus package on the get-go, the price tag rises to Rs 1.49 lakh while the figure hits Rs 1.59 lakh for the higher Pro package. Delhi government supports EVs with a subsidy to their on-road price. For the same reason, ex-showroom prices for the 450X, 450X Plus and 450X Pro respectively stand at Rs 85,000, Rs 1.35 lakh and Rs 1.45 in the NCR.
Coming to the Ather 450X, Ather Energy terms it as a ‘Super Scooter’. As the name suggests, it is essentially an improved and loaded version of the familiar Ather 450 and gets a substantial bump in range and output figures. With its launch, Ather Energy has also marked its debut in eight more cities (Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Cochin, Kolkata, Coimbatore and Ahmedabad) in addition to Bangalore and Chennai. Total 10 cities.
The development of the 450X started with an all-new 2.9kW battery pack that has better power and energy density, to give a certified range of 116km (on-road range: 85km). Output figures have gone up to 6KW (about 8bhp) and 26Nm of torque. On the other hand, the Ather 450 boasts of 5.4kW (7.25bhp) and 20.5Nm. The Ather 450X is significantly lighter as well (by 10kg) at 108kg.
The Ather 450X also gets a new riding mode — Warp — in addition to Eco and Power. In Warp mode, the e-scooter performs way better. 0-60km/h sprint can be done in just 6.50 seconds; making the Ather 450X, the quickest scooter on the market, regardless of the power plant. Charging times have also gone by a whopping 50% (1km/min to 1.5km/min).
With the 450X, the company has opened doors to an open-source Android development platform for coding and UI/UX enthusiasts. Owing to this, the touchscreen instrument cluster will get even more class-leading features in the future. Finally, the company has introduced 3 colour schemes: Grey/Yellow and Green/Orange, in addition to the familiar White/Green shade.
The Indian two-wheeler market is still at an infant stage when it comes to electric vehicles. However, Ather Energy was the first brand to give a sense of hope and direction in the field of EVs that was otherwise flooded with boring and odd-looking e-scooters. Now, mainstream brands such as Bajaj and TVS have joined the party of desirable emission-free alternatives to regular petrol-CVT scooters, with the likes of the Chetak and iQube, respectively.