Ather Energy has built its reputation around sporty, technology-heavy electric scooters, but Konarc represents a very different direction for the company. Built on the new cost-focused EL platform, it is designed to take Ather deeper into India’s mass-market family scooter segment.
Konarc is built on Ather’s new cost effective and mass market EL platform which has unlocked a new price point for the brand, now starting at Rs 99,999 (effective Ex-sh). After witnessing the launch, I experienced Konarc at the media ride event held in Bengaluru. After riding it and understanding it across multiple terrains, this is what I think about the new Ather Konarc.
Ather Konarc EV Review
We have to start with prices because that’s the headline figure. Rs 99,999 to Rs 1,44,999 price tag (effective Ex-sh) and 200 km range, are new for Ather. These are made possible by a new EL platform, but the headline figures create a spec that does not exist. Ather only launched base S trim and not top-spec Z trim which gets all the bells and whistles. Even within this S trim, 200 km range variant is not launched yet.
So, if you buy a Konarc today, you don’t get all the features and range goes till 161 km only. This is despite paying Rs 1.45 lakh + AtherStack Pro because most of the drool worthy features are locked behind AtherStack Pro. You could wait for the Z trim, choose a higher range variant, extended warranty and then AtherStack Pro, but prices may near (or even cross) Rs 2 lakh (OTR, Karnataka).
There are four colours to choose from – Lumen Copper, Quartz White, Majestic Grey and Celestial Gold, which is what we sampled. Only Celestial Gold and Quartz White gets Blue contrast on seat cover, floor area and trim behind the front apron. The other gets Black in these areas. Konarc is Ather’s first scooter to come with metallic body, but it is only seen at the side body panels and is not very extensive.
Design & Practicality
In terms of design, Ather Konarc follows a family scooter format and is not offensive or polarising in any way. Ather designers have done a good job in creating a scooter that will appeal to as many people as possible. Sure, Ather Konarc sort of looks like TVS Orbiter, but Konarc has way more road presence and a sense of a premiumness to it. Headlight is a triple barrel reflector setup in the handlebar cowl and LED DRLs are positioned in the apron.
Ather logo is lit and outer elements of DRLs double up as turn indicators too. A similar pattern can be seen at the rear tail lights as well. Side body panels have clean surfacing and minimal creases, exuding elegance and classy aura. Side stand gets its own window and Ather Konarc gets a main stand for convenience as well. Seat is long, wide, contoured and accommodating. My 6-foot frame could easily flat foot on both sides and my EU45 (~UK11) size boots fit nicely on the flat floorboard.
Speaking of floorboard, it is quite spacious too and family oriented buyers will find it accommodating. There is a hook for practicality, a Type-C port and a small glove compartment too. ORVMs are nice and wide and they offer good visibility even beyond my broad shoulders. Pillion room is sufficient too and there is a fixed backrest in the S variant. Only Z trim gets the height adjustable backrest, which is slightly larger in size to be more accommodating.
Underseat storage is 31L and it is quite large and spacious with oodles of practicality. The boot area is long and is fairly deep, but is just inches away from accommodating my full-face XL-sized ADV-styled helmet. Only the Z variant gets LED boot light and the seat-release strut. Speaking of, Ather Konarc Z variant gets keyless go and remote boot release function on the key. There’s a dedicated button behind the pillion backrest which also releases the seat.
Features & Equipment
Switchgear are all high-quality and gave positive feedback. They’re not clicky, but they feel sort of plush and premium. The variant we sampled came with a 7-inch LCD instrument cluster which supports Bluetooth connectivity along with a plethora of connected features like turn-by-turn navigation, notifications, call alerts and more. There’s a dedicated button for reverse mode and the ignition button doubles up as a mode toggle to cycle between SmartEco, Eco and Power.
There are not a lot of features with Ather Konarc S trim and even within the S trim, features are locked behind AtherStack Pro. Ride Assist suite of features are only with AtherStack Pro. These include features like AirWalk, AutoHold, FallSafe along with Bluetooth Call & Music Alerts. Ather Connect is locked behind AtherStack Pro including many connected features which one would feel are necessary. Also, Ather Connect with AtherStack Pro is only complimentary for 3 years only.
If you plan on getting an extended warranty of up to 10 years, you need to have AtherStack Pro. What’s not locked behind AtherStack Pro is the 450W onboard charger, standard across all variants. Ather has introduced a combined charging feature too, allowing an external 450W charger to be connected on top of the onboard charger for a total of 900W AC charging. Sticking with charging, Ather Grid is only standard with 125 km and 161 km variants.
Powertrain and Performance
Ather Konarc S is powered either by a 2.1 kWh, a 2.5 kWh or a 3.5 kWh battery pack, promising range of 100 km, 125 km and 161 km, respectively. The 100 km variant gets a 4 kW motor with 0-40 km/h sprint taking 5 seconds, while 125 km and 161 km variants get 4.7 kW motor taking 4.7 seconds to 40 km/h. Top speed is the same at 70 km/h with all three Konarc S variants and so is the 16 Nm torque figure.
We felt that the performance is brisk at lower speeds in Power Mode, but can feel dull with Smart Eco mode. Performance tapers off quite quickly as you approach the top speed. It took around 8.2 seconds to reach 60 km/h and then around 12 seconds to reach 70 km/h (speedo indicated). We wished top speed was 80 km/h for an engaging ride, because the 70 km/h top speed felt limiting in many ways.
Ather Konarc gets 14-inch front wheel and 12-inch rear wheel. Couple that with long travel suspension at the rear, Ather Konarc offers a plush ride quality. However, I wished Ather had given 14-inch wheels at both ends. I personally own a scooter with 10-inch, 12-inch and 14-inch wheels at both ends and I’d choose the 14-inch scooter any day of the year. Because of the 14-inch front and 12-inch rear combo, ride quality feels slightly inconsistent, depending on where you sit.
The new EL platform is cost-effective and does not have any fancy Aluminium frame underneath. This translates to normal riding characteristics, losing the sporty factor that Ather is generally known for. Steering is predictable and Konarc can lean into a corner well, for its form factor and genre. Braking is predictable too and Konarc came to a standstill from 40 km/h in no time. There’s no ABS here and the scooter only gets CBS and an electronic layer Ather calls AeBS, detailed below.
Should You Buy One?
At the keynote, Ather showed the Konarc you could potentially buy one day (Z trim), but not the Konarc you can buy today, which is the S trim. I wish this disconnect did not exist. Our unit also had a few flaws like rough edges, clotted paint, uneven panel gaps and I could see some colour variation between metallic and non-metallic surfaces. I wished AirWalk feature would work on an incline because that’s when I actually need it to work.
The biggest hurdle for me, personally, is premium pricing strategy. Ather Konarc prices are not competitive if we take rivals into account. This premium pricing would be justified if the optional AtherStack Pro did not exist and all fancy features were offered as standard. I don’t have anything against Ather Connect subscription, as it is an evolving software suite and needs constant R&D to perfect further.
AtherStack Pro Makes Business Sense
While I would prefer many of these features to be included with the scooter, it is easy to understand why Ather is pursuing this strategy. Ather’s own investor disclosures show that the AtherStack Pro attach rate has reached 94%, which means an overwhelming majority of customers are opting for the paid software package.
Interestingly, the attach rate has remained consistently high even as Ather’s volumes have grown. It stood at 89% in Q1 FY25 and has gradually increased to 94%, while quarterly registrations grew from 17,798 to 88,387 over the period shown by the company. Ather also says non-vehicle revenue now contributes around 14% of its overall revenue.
AtherStack Pro is contributing to higher average selling prices as well. Ather’s average ex-showroom selling price increased from around Rs 1.50 lakh in Q4 FY26 to Rs 1.61 lakh by June 2026. The company attributes this Rs 11,000 increase to a combination of higher vehicle prices, AtherStack Pro pricing and customers increasingly choosing higher-range models.
So, from Ather’s perspective, keeping advanced software features behind AtherStack Pro makes business sense. If 94% of customers are willing to pay for it, there is little commercial incentive to bundle everything into the base vehicle price.
Ather isn’t alone in moving in this direction either. Across the automotive and technology industries, manufacturers are increasingly looking beyond the initial product sale and towards software, connected services, subscriptions and other recurring revenue streams. For Ather, AtherStack Pro effectively turns software into another revenue-generating layer on top of the scooter itself.
From a buyer’s perspective, however, the question is different: should features already enabled by hardware on an expensive scooter require an additional payment to access? That’s where my criticism of Konarc’s pricing remains.
However, buyers do not seem to mind the premium pricing at all and are happy to pay the asking price to be a part of this enthusiastic community. And also get industry-best features-set and smart solutions to improve your everyday riding. Except for the premium pricing, there’s nothing really bothersome about Ather Konarc and should be high up your EV wishlist. In Ather’s journey to become mainstream, Konarc is not a step, but is a giant leap.
