An Ode to Ather
Before we begin, there are two points to make: First, I’m not an experienced 2-wheeler rider, so test-drive yourself and watch other reviews before buying. Second, there’s an upgraded version of the 450X called Apex. If I decided to buy the 450X, I’d buy the Apex instead, since it’s just a 451X, but since I test-drove the 450X, the following review is about it:
I’ve test-driven many electric scooters (Ather Rizta, Ola S1 “Pro”, River Indie, Chetak, Vida V1 “Pro”, Bounce Infinity, Ampere) and a motorcycle (Orxa Mantis), and the Ather stands head and shoulders above all of them, to the extent that it’s in a different league.
The scooter is tiny, to the point it feels like a toy. It’s easy to maneuver through small gaps at signals, and it’s light, so if you want to reverse a bit, it’s easy to push it back, unlike some of its competitors.
The storage space wasn’t enough for my 17-inch laptop. No scooter’s storage space is, to be fair, but the Ather’s is smaller than some of its competitors. The Ather is for enthusiasts, people who love to drive, not for people who drive as a necessary evil to pick up their kid from school.
The scooter accelerates fast and fun, unlike others that are sluggish even under full throttle in Sport. It’s also super linear, unlike almost every non-Ather, which accelerate less, but once they reach a certain speed, accelerate more and then after reaching another speed, accelerate less. The Ather accelerates beautifully. It’s been tuned to an incredible degree.
I was able to turn off coasting regen, so that it coasts smoothly. Some other scooters don’t let me do this, which results in acceleration - deceleration cycles, producing an uncomfortable ride.
The Ather has a hook for a bag.
The Ather is too small for tall riders:
The handlebars hit my knees when I turned. I learnt to open my legs in a V when turning.
The Ather also looks better than some of its competitors. Some of them even have ugly exposed motorcyle-style handlebars.
Safety
The Ather is also safe, unlike many of its competitors. One failed suddenly shut down mid test-drive. Luckily, I was going at 20 kph on a small side road with nobody around me. If I was going at speed and the scooter shut down, I might be rear-ended.
Another shook side-to-side when I braked. Another braked unevenly — with the brake lever held at a fixed position, it braked slowly, then a lot, then slowly. By contrast, the Ather brakes evenly and safely.
One scooter came with a cracked rear-view mirror. If it’s like this before you buy it, imagine how much worse it will be after. This was the case for the TVS iQube S as well. When I pointed it out, the salesman didn’t care. Another scooter had rear view mirrors couldn’t see behind me — my body blocks them. I tried adjusting them, and it doesn’t work. Either the mirrors are defective on this scooter, or on all. They’ve become body view mirrors.
On the Ather, when I complete a turn, the turn indicator goes off, as in a car. On some of the other scooters, the turn indicator remains on, which is a safety issue.
On a competitor, after completing the turn, I realised that I didn’t even turn on the indicators, because the switch had poor mechanical feedback — it moved, so I thought it’s on, but I apparently didn’t move it enough. Things like these are more noticeable in their absence. The Ather has no flaws.
Of course, no conversation about safety is complete without pointing out Olas catching fire:
When driving over a bump, the Ather jolted severely. Another time, when I was going over rumble strips at 40-50 kph, the handlebars shook up and down. If I were going faster, I could have lost control. This is concerning since Indian roads have potholes everywhere. By contrast, the TVS iQube S and Chetak remained stable.
A computer on wheels
The software worked reliably, both in the scooter and in the app. Ather has a well-earned reputation that when they launch something, it works well. Unlike Ola, where some screens loaded blank and others gave errors, both in the scooter and in the app, and the salesman tried to dismiss them as not a big deal. Or Chetak, which shut down mid-ride and wouldn’t turn on.
The Ather has a touchscreen that works well enough and is readable in sunlight. It comes with Google Maps, unlike many other brands who ship the crappy Map My India to save money. The navigation takes live traffic into account, unlike some of the other scooters. In Bangalore traffic, that’s really necessary. Ather also lets you search for your destination on your phone and send it to your scooter. As a counter-example, Chetak’s navigation was useless; I’d rather use my phone. Ather also shows you on a map where you parked. You can also make it honk and flash its lights to locate it. You also get Tow and Theft notifications.
Nowadays, vehicles can get software updates. With some brands, this is just a theoretical benefit or only a marketing benefit for the brand. But Ather has actually added new features like Auto Hold to already-sold scooters.
Ather is the only company to have a first-party charging network. Its trip planner automatically adds charging stops as needed based on the distance.
Ather, as an electric-first company, has the right DNA to build a computer on wheels, which is what electric scooters are. Unlike legacy companies which are hobbled by legacy thinking on the part of legacy management who think of tech as something to stick on top of a 20th century scooter. They’ll say, “See, we have Bluetooth!” Many didn’t have any settings! Or even a digital instrument cluster. Or the dashboard takes 30s to boot. Riding many of the Athers reminded me that you can’t teach old dogs new tricks.
Ather is also less risky to buy from as compared to River which, being a smaller company that has sold few scooters, has a greater chance of going bust.
Ather showrooms and buying experience are also a cut above most brands’ showrooms.
It’s a great machine built with love and attention to detail. We always look up to western brands like Apple and Bose for great products, but Ather is no worse than any of them. It’s the best India has to offer, which is world-class. If that’s what you want, you should fulfil your sacred duty under capitalism and support the companies that bring you those.