Great suggestions Avanish, have discussed a few of these on the same thread above, some new ones. Addressing all of them below:
- I’ve had a similar question come up at Ather Space. We can do this very easily, much less effort required than turning the indicator off. We don’t do it as it’s a big safety hazard. In a lot of instances, riders choose to override the route suggested by the navigation, of the indicators, turn on, and the rider does not make a turn, it can cause accidents.
- No argument here. As communicated over our mail too, the current design of the braking system does not allow for it.
- We’ve tried multiple ways of letting the user know the vehicle is on. All of them over time become an annoyance. Even in higher end cars today, the engine noise and vibration are imperceptible. Ather vehicles surely have a learning curve when coming from ICE vehicles, but in real world usage, you won’t feel the need for knowing the ignition status through physical means.
- Need to have a local connection with the helmet, using wifi or Bluetooth. Since both are not present on the current version, this cannot be implemented for the current version even if we develop a new helmet for this.
- Agreed, and we are considering adding it to future vehicles. Can’t commit to it at this point though, as all our focus is on ramping up production.
- Considered adding an auxiliary battery, but did not find enough need or takers for the same, given the range was enough for most users daily usage. We also increased the range and battery capacity on the 450 for this range anxiety. Also, AtherGrid is setup for topping off the vehicle quickly whenever the range goes down. An addtional battery in itself is a complicated product, if there isn’t a strong need or use case for it, the R&D time and money spent on it will not be justified.
- Valid apprehensions, and we will work on these things going forward. Lots of learning on user behaviour to be done on our part in the coming few months
- While we are doing all we can to ensure smooth installations at our end, there are a lot of factors come into play while installing charging points at home. There was a time people were apprehensive about the installation of satellite TV dishes and air conditioners too. With more and more people getting electric vehicles, the friction to get charging points will reduce.
- Subscription costs include service but are not limited to it. It also includes all electricity costs, data costs, roadside assistance, consumable parts, etc. That said, we are working on plans that can be opted for if someone chooses not to opt for the full Ather One.
- Would love to do that, maybe once the production stabilizes enough and we have the bandwidth to arrange visits, we’ll have them. Not sure how soon that can be done though.