Take our example. I m buying this for my wife whose monthly Petrol expenses are 400-500 per month. Even including quarterly service, her average monthly maintenance is 700-800 per month. Her route is going to be same for 90 percent. So even after high investment, I will end up spending same every month.
I m not even considering battery replacement later.
For many people charging reimbursement may not even matter as they can spend that 150 directly on EB bill itself.
700 per month for a electric scooter seems too costly.
The only real plus I could really think of is access to charging points free of cost. If people are going to use it 5 times a month, they can obviously pay per use also.
As Rajesh mentioned, it should be available at different tiers. Based on facilities included in each tier cost should range between 200-500 per month.
I agree with what is said above, for someone whose average usage is less, the Ather One might seem overpriced at the current price. Also, how would one get software updates if they donât opt for Ather One. I have a Samsung television, itâs software gets updated over the air, with the help of Wi-Fi connection. Some option should be provided to users, who donât opt for Ather One.
The original intent of bundling all the costs into one was to reduce complexity and provide the best experience. For example, knowing that you have access to charging everywhere just gives you tremendous freedom - you donât have to go through the hassle of paying per charge, you donât have to worry about calculating and taking on separate plans etc. In fact, charging somewhere outside shouldnât take any mental space for our customers at all - and that is almost an essential part of adopting the 340/450. Similarly, the data experience is just as crucial - it not only adds navigation but also takes care of any service issues you might have, helps you track your vehicleâs charging status remotely. Predictability and consequently, reducing the mental overhead of owning a vehicle, are why we came out with AtherOne in the first place.
However, having said that, we take this feedback seriously. We are looking at having a few options in the subscription model. The options we are thinking of arenât exactly as you suggested, but the intent is pretty much the same. This wonât impact the ownership in the first year (for early pre-orders), since the first year subscription was free anyways. But, we will work out options for AtherOne nevertheless. We should announce it as soon as we internally agree on the options - give us a few weeks.
Thanks again for voicing this out - as a young company, your opinion helps us continuously make adjustments to our offerings and hopefully, itâll benefit all our customers.
I am not sure whatâs happening in the background. No communication whatsoever after they surveyed for charging installation about a month back. I have reached out to them multiple times over phone but all they say is âwe will get back to you soonâ.
Hey
I have a few queries which I hope are cleared by The Team.
I have booked the 450 and have a delivery date between Aug-Sep!
What happens to Rs.5000 paid while pre-booking?
What is the Ather One Plan really? ( Paying Rs.1,24,000 already for a scooter seems far-fetched and another Rs.8000 yearly is rather absurd right?)
If I opt out off the Ather One Plan will I not get a 24/7 support? And will I charged for data service? What will be the maintenance cost for the parts and the service cost as well?
What is the battery life and also the cost for replacement of it?
There are talks about the upgrades on the scooter⌠So will I receive those upgrades in the future for free?
What is the topic on the rear brake? Can anyone explain it briefly to me?
P.S. Please do decrease the rate of the scooter(with love).
The 5,000 paid at the time of pre-order get adjusted in the final payment amount, hence for the 450, youâll have to pay 1,19,750 instead of 1,24,750.
AtherOne is included in the price for the first year and has multiple services bundled into it. Cost of electricity, spare parts, service labour, data, roadside assistance, etc. But as Gandharv already mentioned, we are working on different plan options, which allow some flexibility to the user depending on what they opt to choose and what they donât.
The battery has a designed life of 50,000 km, at which point it should still retain 70% of the initial capacity. As for the warranty, we provide 3 years/unlimited distance warranty on the battery pack. The cost of replacement is not finalized to the digit yet but should be in the ballpark of 35-40k.
That said, typically a battery wonât need a replacement for 6-7 years, and the cost of the battery at that point should be lower as the cost of li-ion cells is coming down YoY.
As for the upgrades, as mentioned earlier, hardware upgrades will not be available to the users. However, all software enhancements will be carried on all vehicles using OTA updates.
The rear brake, on the 450 and 340, is much more powerful as compared to conventional scooters, being a disc type instead of a drum setup.
While braking, most of the weight moves towards the front wheel, and ideally the braking duties should be handled by the front brake by default. However, the most usual tendency is to apply the rear brake, and not the front one, by scooter users which ends up locking the rear wheel.
This is something that will take a while to get used to, but within a few hundred kms, riders will get used to using the front brake primarily. The way it should be. For all two-wheelers.
I think you can always opt out Ather one subscription. anyway for first year its free. I have an activa and i travel around 50KM every day and my maintenance expenditure after 3 years is higher. Easily 2K per service and 3 services an year. so 6k just for servicing.
Since its a paradigm change from scooters to âSmart scootersâ people will have the same feeling like âMy 1100 also calls, why would I need Android phone as the phone is also costly and data is also costlyâ
Thatâs exactly the reason we are working on different plans that can decouple services from AtherOne.
Ather will maintain the data subscription, however, full AtherOne need not be taken by every user.
The features on the dashboard that require data will not work without a data subscription, however, anything that does not require internet connectivity will still work. In case there is no data plan subscribed.
If someone opts out of AtherOne, charging at AtherGrid will become pay-per-use for that user.
The biggest challenge for me is the wait. My Ather 450âs tentative date of delivery is April 2019. I need a scooter urgently. Thinking of buying a Honda and sell it off in April. Hopefully wouldnât loose much money in the process.
