The subsidy is on the ex factory price and not the ex showroom. Ather has made the ex factory price under 1.5Lakhs then after that they’ve added the difference amount that they had earlier subtracted ( part of which is named as performance upgrade ) and gst and that gives you the final ex showroom price. Some cities haven’t waived off road tax and hence they have to show you this ex show room price. Which is constant across the country. The subsidy is constant but the the other charges aren’t. Hence they subtract it. If the road tax and regn fees were constant they would have added that too.
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Why is it so hard to give a timeline for this? Or Ather belleves we can keep complaining and live with it for sometime?
Ather pulled a similar thing with the 450. They kept marketting an ECO mode and marketed 75Km range whn all we had was ride mode which showed 65Km of range. The ECO mode took over a year from the scooter release to be implemented. Idk if they were marketting it from the scooter launch. But when I bought it I was told I’ll have an eco mode and I didn’t for a few months. The ECO mode made no difference to anyone. If anything it made the scooter worse at soc under 17%. So it really didn’t make such a big difference. And there weren’t a lot of scooters on the road at the time. But now marketting the product like they are on TV commercials. Newspaper ads. And the number of scooters on the road !! They really can’t expect to pull it off again !!!
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I remember Feb 2021 being mentioned many times on another thread. I wonder what month we are in now.
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I am no expert at starting and running a 2W EV company (heh), so please excuse me if I am oversimplifying the situation (I’m certain there are a lot of nuances I don’t understand). But looking at this thread and all the surprises new buyers seem to be having as they became unwitting early adopters, here are my 2 cents.
You know, Team Ather, I think the surge of angry reactions you are seeing on the forum is a classic case of Psychology of Waiting in action. I have already mentioned this many times around here, but want to once again emphasize on the recurring communication snafu regarding this.
People hate waiting. You know what they hate more? Waiting in the dark. Simple.
Be it the timelines for new showrooms, the release of new app updates or addressing existing problems with software, it’s not like people never expected these issues to arise. What exasperates the situation is people not knowing WHEN to expect hearing back from you all.
If you read about the first year of Tesla, you might hear the story of how they ended up with a waitlist full of pre-booking even when they didn’t have the basic production in place. But what kept these early enthusiasts in place and made them die-hard fans had a lot to do with how Tesla continuously put out communication to all pre-booking customers on the latest developments - innovative things they were working on, tests they were conducting, problems they were facing, etc. - throughout the process, be it good or bad. This ensured that everyone felt like they too were an inherent part of this company and created a fan base that stuck with them through the highs and lows.
Now if only we had something like that with Ather! We as early adopters want to know what is up with the R&D team, the team working on fixing the software bugs, the teams setting up showrooms in various cities; even if it is a worrisome update, we want to know! And trust me, we will support you because we are absolutely sure that any delay or quality gaps from Ather’s side was obviously not intentional! Doesn’t matter in what form: could be through posts on the forum, as a newsletter, or just as a dedicated update section like they have on Kickstarter. Instead, what we get is initial radio silence on WHAT EXACTLY is being done proactively to address the complaints, and then suddenly a burst of updates close to the final rollout dates (most often not even alpha, but beta testing phase).
This wait without knowing how long we need to wait, needs to change! Tell us what is happening behind the scenes transparently, and I’m sure your customers will be more selective with their rage 
Again, I am reiterating that I mean no malice. Knowing the culture at Ather, I am sure they will take this feedback with the most positive spirit. Hopefully, this one small change is not too much to ask for!
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I remember it slightly differently. When they began sales, they marketed with 2 modes, Eco and Sport I think. And then when it became evident that Eco wasn’t delivering 75kms for a number of owners l, it got renamed to Ride. And a new Eco Mode was launched months later via OTA.
But yes, in the interim when new Eco Mode was in development, it was part of marketing but I remember the EC guys made sure to mention ahead that it will be delivered later via OTA.
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No one here to help Ather, its purely business deal. We are paying money they are selling product.
No one will show sympathy when they tried to loot customers and run business.
I have preordered 450x with out knowing price, i was ok when they announced features, and price and hyp they have created.
I was in confusion when they announced price 1.59 lacs, but finally bought it.
But i really started hating when i got to know the price is 1.89 and we are not getting all features promised but on top this they are charging for subscription also.
2400 for subscription is not big deal after paying 1.89 lacs for bike and 10k for charger installation. But just the confusion…what extra we are getting compared to 450 after paying so much extra. Just the waro mode.
No bussiness will survive with this kind of cheating on customers
Sir we’ve been through this over and over again on this thread. 2400 coudl have been bundled with the scooter and they could have given you a years subscription “for free” but that would have increased the price for everyone. Then comes the recurring costs of providing a sim card with data services on your scooter. They will need to pay the service providers at recurrent intervals and they can’t give you the service for free. I understand this is a new concept since it’s not been done in any 2 wheeler. In 4 wheelers the price of the product is so high that they bundle years worth of data charges into the product itself, which really doesn’t make a difference for 15+Lakh cars. 10k installation is a very specific issue with your case and no more than that. If your housing society or apartment community had arranged for a socket at your parking spot then it wouldn’t have been an issue at all. So idk if Ather is the one the blame. It’s like saying you live 10Km from a petrol bunk and you spend money and fuel to travel to the petrol bunk to fuel up. You wouldn’t complain to the ICE seller would you?
Sir it’s been made clear
The battery itself costs over 70k maybe more. The motor the the suspension and other components are not like the cheap components on say the pure ev e Pluto 7G and on top of all that the BMS is in house which takes real engineers hired by Ather and working for Ather who’s salaries need to be paid. And above all
Sir I urge you to please go through this post again
@abhishek.balaji has probably answered all your reasons for saying Ather is “cheating” or " looting" you paid your money by your own volition. You were not forced to. You now regret the buy, but your regret isn’t a determining factor for the operations of the company. What you think is worth 1.6 lakhs is different from what I think is worth 1.6 Lakhs. And I respect that. But going around in circles on this thread isn’t helping anyone. Please continue criticising Ather, but please find new things bring up. Find new deficits in the scooter, since most of your statements have been replied to and resorting to repeatedly saying Ather is looting isn’t doing anyone good here. This thread is locked only for present owners and if you’re trying to tell people not to buy the scooter. It’s not going to work on this thread sir.
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I am pretty much in support with this statement and mentioned the same many times in forum in different posts.
They have to improve their communication & they have to commit to a date. When ever someone asks some thing the answer is that we don’t have a time line as such to share or communicate. This has to change else it effects the brand a lot with more and more customers coming on board it is not like initial days.
Only when there is a commitment there will be a pressure to deliver just delaying things will worsen. Like @harshithbhat rightly said it is difficult to stare into darkness for too long.
You guys tell things but the communication is not good and not reaching to all customers or potential customers.
Now just for example, the time lines given to software release for bluetooth and other fixes is about to come to an end but there is no sign of response form your side. This is creating chaos more certainly in new owners. I don’t say you cheated but communication is important.
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Whether to call this cheating or not is to split hairs. There is an undeniable case of false advertising going on, and that’s pretty close to cheating.
@Suraj_madhu, I don’t know why this did not occur to me earlier, but Ather right now seems to be closer to CD Projekt Red than to Tesla, with the 450 being its Cyberpunk 2077.
The only reason I wouldn’t call this cheating is because I believe that Ather is a company made up of basically good people. However, what I see going on currently is making me rethink this assumption.
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Exactly. If you advertise it as a key feature, you better damn as hell ensure it is there. If not, don’t talk about it else make it clear on the site as well that it is not available at present. Why take full price for the vehicle if you can’t deliver? No doubt the vehicle has been a good ride so far, but we pay for all features. This kind of half baked service with a timeline of “coming soon” is so unprofessional. This coupled with the poor delivery experience has really pulled down Ather for me.
We’re surely in Feb ‘21, not sure about them!
My question to all the disppointed critics, do you have any other alternative even close to the feature & performance what Ather is giving right now & not just in upcoming, future comming product? Answer is NO. Also seems like critics didn’t attended owners meet or 450x Unveiled event or even gone through the website properly where everything was cleared by the Ather team. Its very unfortunate that lockdown happened & schedule got delayed but they’re on the right track. Just have patience & mostly faith in Ather otherwise no one has forced on gun point to buy the power pack smart scooter. you may also wait for rivels to launch theirs & see their product, have comparison & then decide. Remember 1 thing, “with premium price comes premium product.”
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You should speak for yourself. There are plenty of alternatives. Mentality like this enables manufacturers to shortchange customers.
Not sure what you’re trying to say here. Can you please elaborate?
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@blackworks I don’t know from where you’re but I’m from Mumbai & I don’t have any alternative right now. Before making my final payment I’d made 100s of followed up with Bajaj, TVS, Hero, Simple Energy, Okinawa & Etergo but they didn’t even botherd to reply my query on availability timeline. I have paid 1.75 Lac total for scooter + Insurance + RTO + charger installation + subscription. We don’t even have subsidy system online. I too felt initially it is little costly but when I took delivery & ride it. Every penny is worth it.
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I’m happy for you, and wish you many happy moments with your purchase.
That doesn’t mean you can extrapolate your experience and tell the dissatisfied people to put up or shut up. Using your own logic, nobody forced you at gunpoint to read about the negatives that are being brought to light here.
I have plenty of patience and faith, but that does not mean they should be taken for granted. Complaining here on the forum is the mildest form of my expression of annoyance.
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Looks like post suppression has started. What a shame.
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Almost anyone can flag a post and it will stay hidden temporarily until reviewed by mods. Don’t see anything wrong with your post though.
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Exactly. Somebody gets their delicate feelings hurt and decides to spoil it for everyone.
Guess I could do the same, but I won’t. Everyone should remain free to express themselves as long as they make sense.
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Absolutely free to express the opinions. But everyone can flag and until the post is reviews by mods for a few hrs the post is hidden.
Unless something abusive or or unparliamentary or wrong is posted. And I cannot see any such content in your posts. Those are just your opinions and nothing wrong in it.
But we cannot control those who falg.
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