450 is made up of Alumunium Chassis. How safe is it?

Q: Conventional scooters / bikes have steel chassis. Ather is built on aluminium chassis. Steel chassis even though it is slightly heavier than aluminium chassis is strong and easily repairable. Bend, twists or distortions can be easily rectified in steel chassis. The same cannot be said about aluminium chassis and on that count alone Ather may not be service friendly. Small damage to the chassis may require a complete replacement of it which may be expensive. Hope Ather is aware of it. Ather team should not expect Ather scooter owners to have deep pockets.

Automotive-grade Aluminium offers considerable benefits in terms of rigidity, safety and weight. It’s not unheard of to use it to build a vehicle’s chassis, there are multiple international brands that have done the same. Though the tensile strength of Al is lower, it can be layered and thickened to match steel without adding additional weight on the vehicle. And in EVs weight is a huge factor, affecting speed, range and gradeability.

Apart from the choice of material, the design itself influences the overall strength of the frame. If you use steel, the welds could become a weak point in the design, which a unibody frame made out of aluminium will not suffer from. In general, steel may be stronger than aluminium, but it doesn’t directly translate to “Steel frame” being stronger than an “Aluminium frame”

Between Ather One, the vehicle warranty, insurance and our doorstep service, you will not have to worry too much about the cost of “worst-case scenarios”.

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