[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

Ather had planned a Mass delivery event,...

...Some existing owners showed interest to join the event. The CEO has tweeted that they are welcome too. I might go as well just to see so many of these beauties together...

Existing owners were informed that if they wanted to join, they could do so at 11:30 as deliveries were scheduled at that time. Before that new owners were briefed about the vehicle and also a short demo would be given. I was free that day and I reached the location at 11:25.

69 scooters parked together was a sight to behold.
As per the given agenda, the new owners came down exactly at 11:30 and took their scooters home. It was a nice sight seeing so many people from all age groups getting to ride their scooters home after a long wait.

Some final questions were being answered, selfies and pictures were being taken and Ather's videographers were recording short interviews. Ather had also setup a desk for a helmet vendor where Studds and Vega helmets could be purchased which was well thought I felt. Whatever I saw was well organised.

I met employees of Ather, Autovert (their leasing partner) and some other owners like me who were also there for the event.

All together, I must've spent around 90 minutes there before returning home. Some of the snaps that I took are below


Ready!


Ather


450


Arranged in a grid


Last minute questions being clarified


Videographer giving pose instructions


"Ok, how do I do this?"


Happy after the long wait...


"Can you a take a picture of mine?"


Blessings

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Ather has released a promotional video about their initial customers and their experiences -

We opened pre-order for the Ather 450 exactly a year ago this day. Within seconds we had our first set of owners, our strongest enthusiasts and brand ambassadors. From then to now, we have been fortunate to have a strong and growing community of owners. As we hit our one year anniversary, we look forward to all the new owners joining the fold, to the great discussions on our online forum and to all the crazy merchandise & ideas our owners come up with.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=us1XRXEgOHg

[hemanth.anand]

A test ride picture (must be a media test ride) from Chennai posted on Instagram reveals the third "Economy" mode appearing on the scooter. It was in the pipeline but not yet rolled out for us. This picture shows that the update is just round the corner

[coolmind]

Good news for chennaites.
Ather 450 priced at Rs. 1.31 lakhs in Chennai, pre-orders begin July 9.
Please go through the attachment for more details.

[hemanth.anand]

on 11th of July, A new version of the Ather app was released. There are some bug fixes and some UI enhancements (icon labels are removed from the bottom navigation bar). This update also brought a new feature wherein users can report any issue regarding their vehicle through the app. This feature is available in the Profile section of the app (right-most icon of the bottom navigation bar).


"My 450" Page


"Maps" Page


"Support" Page


"Profile" Page

We can choose any one of the categories (Scooter, Charging, Dashboard, App or Others) relevant to the issue, describe the issue and add optional images and tap the ‘Send’ buttom on the top


"Report an issue" section

Once done, we receive an acknowledgment email with a ticket number.

I had a small issue with my scooter. When on rough roads, the seat would make noise because there was a small gap in the latch assembly of the seat lock. It was a minor one and since it wasn't troubling me, I had ignored that. I reported the issue to get it solved as well as check this new feature. I got an acknowledgement email immediately with a ticket number. The next day I got a call from Ather and they booked an appointment for the day after. The technician came and solved the issue in 10 minutes. He only had to put two additional washers and adjust the height of the seat thereby reducing the gap in the latch mechanism.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

I reported the issue to get it solved as well as check this new feature. I got an acknowledgement email immediately with a ticket number. The next day I got a call from Ather and they booked an appointment for the day after. The technician came and solved the issue in 10 minutes.

This is freaking brilliant! The more I read about this bike, the better things seem to be. Quite the opposite from most other bike brands, where the initial hype seldom remains once deliveries and service operations begin. Looks like my next commuter bike will definitely be an Ather. (Now I just need to dispose off the 3 bikes I already have before my wife will let me buy a new one! )

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by am1m

This is freaking brilliant! The more I read about this bike, the better things seem to be. Quite the opposite from most other bike brands, where the initial hype seldom remains once deliveries and service operations begin. Looks like my next commuter bike will definitely be an Ather. (Now I just need to dispose off the 3 bikes I already have before my wife will let me buy a new one! )

The experience is leagues ahead of other scooter experience (both riding and relationship). But not everything is rosy. looking at some posts on the Ather forum, I sometimes feel that I might be a lucky one. Some people have given negative feedback about their experience with the service of their scooters. After the service, the scooter were returned back with some scratches, body parts not put back neatly together. I feel sorry for those owners but Ather being a new company should be given a little more time to improve and set their processes right. I think 1 year from February 2019 (when steady deliveries started), all vehicles will go in for their major services of 5k to 10k kms and by that time, Ather should iron out issues like these.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

But not everything is rosy. looking at some posts on the Ather forum, I sometimes feel that I might be a lucky one. Some people have given negative feedback about their experience with the service of their scooters.

That's good, I hope more users will post their negative experiences on TBhp too. Those are far more useful to potential buyers like me than the positives which the company anyway will advertise.

Am slowly seeing more of these scooters on the road.

[sri_tesla]

Ather announced the revised prices after GST reduction from 12% to 5%. Price reduced by ₹8,932 in Bangalore and ₹9,459 in Chennai for Ather 450.

Bangalore:
Earlier it was ₹1,22,647



Chennai:
Earlier it was ₹1,31,683

[TusharK]

The government of India has reduced the GST rate on electric vehicles from 12% to 5%. As a result, the prices of Ather electric scooter have dropped. The price of the Ather 450 has reduced by Rs. 9,000.



In Bangalore, the Ather 340 and 450 are priced at Rs. 1,02,460 and Rs. 1,13,715 (on-road) respectively. This includes FAME II subsidy of Rs. 23,959 and Rs. 26,732 respectively.

After the reduction in GST rate, in Chennai, the Ather 340 and 450 cost Rs. 1,10,443 and Rs. 1,22,224 (on-road) respectively. These prices include the aforementioned FAME II subsidy.

At the moment, Ather e-scooters are only available in Bangalore and Chennai. The company plans to introduced these in Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune and 30 other cities by 2023.

Link to Team-BHP News

[payeng]

Regardless of the Price Drop, the Range / Charging Availability / Charging Time / Battery Life of EVs is still too much for a common man to ignore.

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by sri_tesla

Ather announced the revised prices after GST reduction from 12% to 5%.

Apart from the direct benefit due to the GST reduction, there are some indirect benefits too in the pricing as the Ex-showroom price is now lesser.
FAME subsidy- FAME subsidy is ₹1,000 per kW or 20% of Ex-showroom, which ever is lower. Due to this, there is a small loss to Bangalore prices as the subsidy reduces by a few hundreds. For Chennai, it remains same as the 20% of Ex-showroom is still higher than the ₹1,000 per kW.
Insurance premium- IDV of the vehicles also reduces giving a further small benefit in the Insurance premium payable.
Road tax- For Chennai people, even the road tax payable reduces (Bangalore has no road tax for EVs)

The effect on prices of all the Ather models due to GST reduction in a nutshell is given below



If the above one is for new vehicles, GST reduction has brought good news for some of the existing Ather customers too. People like me who have purchased the scooter on Lease will pay less rent from this month onwards. The 12% to 5% reduction applies to the monthly rent too.
I paid the August month's lease rent today and it was around ₹190 rupees less than last month. I have 31 months remaining and this translates to a total of ₹5,800 less outgo.

[Sk8r]

Originally Posted by payeng

Regardless of the Price Drop, the Range / Charging Availability / Charging Time / Battery Life of EVs is still too much for a common man to ignore.

Absolutely, not sure what strategy the GOI is establishing here. Their policies can be termed as revolutionary if we had a dozen vehicles to choose from and charging network all over our cities/ Highways.

When we have nothing on ground or even on paper, I am not really sure how these policies will attract buyers!

[adhd92]

Originally Posted by Sk8r

Absolutely, not sure what strategy the GOI is establishing here. Their policies can be termed as revolutionary if we had a dozen vehicles to choose from and charging network all over our cities/ Highways.

When we have nothing on ground or even on paper, I am not really sure how these policies will attract buyers!

This has been a frequent occurrence in the last 5years in many of the policies.
Lot of 'hulla bulla' with no ground work or practical execution!

[bigron]

This will still not sell. The GST cut is not going to cover for a complete lack of infrastructure that is required to sell these EV.