Consider a typical scooter, buying cost is close to 75K. In 3 years, you will be lucky to get 30K for it. So cost of ownership
Depreciation : 45000
Service : 12000 (ave 1500 per service incl oil change for 2/3 year, 1st year free)
Insurance : 4000
Fuel Cost : 30000 (around 800 per month)
So TCO of a regular scooter is also close to 90000 this without factoring the interest cost of money.
The equation will change drastically once the volumes kick in and electric vehicles become more popular IMHO
I have just thrown in a calculation and my thought process…what to choose depends all on your use case…I am going ahead with full payment option because of my personal reasons…that is nothing but I believe I will be able to use Ather450 more than 3 years and in 3 years I has a break even with normal scooter and every km after that is a savings for me…if Ather would have made sense only for 3 years then I personally would stayed with my current 2004 model unicorn (which is still doing a good city commuter job)…and waited for couple of more years for the EV market to mature… Technology is definitely growing…but something on ground to compete Ather may take 3 years…by then I will be in my savings mode
I completly agree with you. If you travel 20KM daily, 5 days a week, then we can hope to breakeven with a honda activa only after 3 years. So if we are planning to own the bike beyond 3 years, it makes more sense to purchase Ather with cash.
How long did it take for the lease to get approved? I submitted documents on 24th Feb but got an email today-26th feb that approval is taking longer than expected and will hear soon.
However, I’m facing one glitch. Even after payment, the dashboard says “confirm your order” (see screenshot below). When I say proceed, it takes me to a payment page and it says that the payable amount is 0. Then when I select the Finish button there, it comes back to this same page
I called the Ather customer care and they say that in the back-end the status has moved ahead and installation of the Point will happen soon. They assured me that I need not worry.
Edit: the software glitch is solved and below is what I see now
if I look at your dates, it looks fine to me. As you had non-standard installation, probably this might be the reason for the delay. Be patient it is just a matter of few more days
Hope you have also factored in the cost of battery replacement (@5 years) and Out of warranty repairs/parts replacements after 3 years. Additionally the Insurance, electricity reimbursement and Ather subscription if you would be opting for it.
After 5 years, running 30k kms will i have to replace battery?..maybe i will be able to use it with a decent range to commute till it hit 50k kms …for me its not only about money…i am not convinced with the idea of buying and replacing in the 3rd year itself…feels like a use and throw…maybe a difficultly to come out of an orthodox consumer mentality…
I feel that lease gives you the flexibility, at the end of 3 years if you feel that strongly about keeping it, it will just cost you 10K.
On the other hand, if you buy and the vehicle doesn’t turn out as expected, you will get stuck with a vehicle that may not be very good and no one wants to buy