[Aditya]

Ather Energy has announced that it has stopped the sale of the Ather 450 electric scooter in both, Bengaluru and Chennai. It will be replaced with the Ather 450X & Ather 450 Plus, which have been built on the same platform, with improved hardware and software capabilities.



The Ather 450 was the company’s first product. It was launched in 2018 and was designed from scratch. It used a 2.4 kWh lithium-ion battery and had a maximum range of 107 km - as tested by the ARAI. Its claimed 0-40 km/h acceleration time was 3.9 seconds. The Ather 450 has, over the years, received 7 OTA updates which introduced new features like Eco-mode, Dark theme for the dashboard and guide-me-home lights.



With the introduction of Ather 450X and Ather 450 Plus, Ather Energy is focusing on delivering the products in new markets such as Hyderabad, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Delhi, Kochi, Kozhikode, Coimbatore and Kolkata. The deliveries of Ather's Series 1 model have already begun in a few markets. The scooter will soon be available across the country. Ather Energy will also set up 135 public fast charging Ather Grid Points across 11 cities by the end of the year.

Considering the demand for Ather 450X among Ather 450 owners who're looking to upgrade, Ather Energy has introduced a peer-to-peer service, Ather Certified Pre-owned, which connects Ather 450 owners to consumers who are interested in a pre-owned Ather 450. Every pre-owned Ather 450 listed for resale as part of this program comes with an Ather Health Certificate issued based on a data-based inspection on every aspect of the scooter.

Link to Team-BHP News Article

[parth.jain]

Looks like Ather is doing good in the country. There was a similar company 'Revolt' by Micromax, but there is not much updates or news about the company. I am yet to see any reviews too for revolt.

[Mortis]

How many Athers have been sold and delivered ?

[SKC-auto]

Originally Posted by Mortis

How many Athers have been sold and delivered ?

Registration data shows:
2020 - 2470 (may include some 450x)
2019 - 2290
2018 - 3

[hrman]

I don't think owners of a two year old Ather scooter will be too pleased to see their model not being manufactured anymore. This strategy perhaps works in consumer durables, mobile phones, laptops etc. But in a semi large ticket item like a scooter costing upwards of INR1.2L, I don't what they are thinking.
Could also be due to poor numbers (?) compared to the higher end model.

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by hrman

I don't think owners of a two year old Ather scooter will be too pleased to see their model not being manufactured anymore. This strategy perhaps works in consumer durables, mobile phones, laptops etc. But in a semi large ticket item like a scooter costing upwards of INR1.2L, I don't what they are thinking.

I do agree that upgrading a scooter is not same as upgrading a mobile.

Being a 450 owner myself, I did think about this point. The 450 itself will last for quite sometime without needing much care. The regular wear and tear items are all common between the 450 and the 450x. the panels in case of an accident also are same. 4g module will be available in Q1 next year. The motor, battery, dashboard firmware will be the differentiator and they won't need replacements immediately.

Talking about owning a discontinued model...I don't know what's it with me and my vehicle purchases. M800, Punto, VW Polo 1.2 GTTSI, Alto K10 (for wife) - All have been discontinued pretty soon after I bought them and was still using them

Could also be due to poor numbers (?) compared to the higher end model.

not really. Ather had told many times that they have been making losses on the 450 and that's why they will stop it. The 450x is their flagship model that'll get them profits, while 450+ is the entry level vehicle. I'd consider 450+ as the 450 without losses

[aargee]

Originally Posted by hrman

This strategy perhaps works in consumer durables, mobile phones, laptops etc. But in a semi large ticket item like a scooter costing upwards of INR1.2L, I don't what they are thinking

I echo your sentiments; at the same time, the rational mind says, over a period of time, the high cost should come down towards affordability (Intel chips outlawing moore's law)

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

Being a 450 owner myself...I'd consider 450+ as the 450 without losses

I was awaiting for your answer & I'm glad you did. I've been calculating ownership cost between an e-scooter & f-scooter (not that f, it's fossil) & didn't find any big margin of difference (only the good e-scooters with green license plates). Infact, over 10 years of ownership, I see f-scooters outerforming e-scooters in terms of cost; this is keeping practicality aside for now. What I'm unsure is, if the owners are aware of this & still go for it or totally unaware.

Keeping all the above aside, I'm sure you would've researched by now, but still, do you think it's possible to upgrade the 450 to 450X as most parts are swappable? Let's keep the RC formalities aside & think if it can be achieved practically.

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by aargee

Infact, over 10 years of ownership, I see f-scooters outerforming e-scooters in terms of cost;

Would be interested to understand your calculations/ reasoning behind this.

Keeping all the above aside, I'm sure you would've researched by now, but still, do you think it's possible to upgrade the 450 to 450X as most parts are swappable? Let's keep the RC formalities aside & think if it can be achieved practically.

I did ask them and they said no. But I don't think it's completely impossible.
Physically there shouldn't be any problems, the firmware is where the hurdles will be.
Also the Motor, the Battery and Dashboard (with all related firmware) should be swapped together. One of the 3 can't be the old one from 450.
Changing the Motor also requires RC update at the RTO too.
But if Ather agrees to do (which I'm sure they won't) swapping should be actually easy.
Considering the cost it'll be wiser to change the vehicle itself

[pedrolourenco]

I'm guessing most Ather 450 bikes are around 3 years old and done 20-30K kms by now.
Few questions:
- How is the scooter holding up?
- What is the battery health? Is there any way of checking the same on the screen or on the app or do you have to take it to the dealer?
- What's the real world range after 3 years?
- What's the average resale value for a well maintained example?

[jaganm]

My 450 is around 4.5 years old, I am coming close to 20K km. I started off very strongly covering 5K in the first year but post pandemic, the km covered has really tapered off as I work from home most of the time. My daughter is the main user of the scooter nowadays.

- The scooter still feels very solid, there is nothing loose or rattling, the acceleration is still very strong.
- The battery range continues to be 55/65/75 in the 3 modes. There is no reduction in the range. I think it is fairly accurate as just a couple of days back, I did a 60km ride and there was over 10 km of range left
- The service experience has been very good. I had taken it on lease so the first 3 years was a 0 cost for me. I then took the service package and it cost me around 3-4K for the year. I only had one service at 15000 km and they did replace a lot of parts like bearings etc, the engineer said it would normally cost around 7000 but because I had the subscription, it was free.
- I am planning to buy a 450X later this year once they launch the 3.7KW model. This is mainly for the extra range which will be very useful for me in Bangalore
- I've still not decided about selling the 450. I will check with them about the trade in if applicable. I hope I will get at least 70-80K, which considering the scooter cost around 1.25L at that time, would be a really good resale. That will be the ultimate testament to their product.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by jaganm

My 450 is around 4.5 years old, I am coming close to 20K km....
- The battery range continues to be 55/65/75 in the 3 modes.

That is very encouraging. And with battery tech already improving in the 5 years since this product was launched (I have a friend in the EV battery business), the future does seem bright for EV 2-wheelers.

Would be great to hear from other early Ather owners, and those who have covered more distance on their bikes.