Volume comes with time and as of now Ather is still really early in it’s life. It took ICE cars decades to get to a good price point I’m sure 3-4 years is reasonable for now.
All good things take time 
As much as I would love to see a long range basic Ather. I also understand why we haven’t already seen it. Same reason it took Tesla 5 years to get from releasing the Model S to the model 3.
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I think you mean model s to model 3? Well while tesla had the luxury of taking it’s time for that long, I really don’t think ather does. This is mainly because of the competition, back in 2012, EV wasn’t really popular, besides tesla only Nissan leaf was popular, and tesla could focus and work on model 3. Also reason for 5 years between model s and Model 3: Elon Musk admitted that making the model x delayed model 3, similar to what ather is doing with 450x here. Yes ather should take their time but 4-5 years is waay too late… I think ather should get a cheaper model asap maybe 2-3 years at max.
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Why would one choose EV over ICE if there are no differentiating features? Fans of electric may go for it but for others who are indifferent, how would electric be better if the only difference is fuel and yet results in a higher cost? I don’t think a lot of people think in terms of environment, they want to see what makes the vehicle stand apart and excites them. Tesla did the same thing you could say I guess - create an aspirational vehicle that makes people go wow about the brand. A connected vehicle delivers on the wow factor. And then once the demand is there, costs start coming down and scaling up becomes easier. you could then go mass market once you’ve shown them what you can do.
EVs need that excitement to kick start growth and put them in the news- and I think Ather is so far doing a good job in getting us there.
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No one will argue with this. Not even Tarun himself.
The chevy Bolt or something was the best selling for a long long time with the leaf right behind it and then model S and model 3 was the first one to overtake the bolt. So no, there was good competition but the thing is india is quite a few years behind and the fact is Ather isn’t releasing in the US but in india. All this being said im confident Ather already has their large volume low cost ev, all under development. Just waiting to establish themselves. Get closer to breaking even and get their production volumes up.
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Look adding one more company isn’t going to say it was good competition. Look at the number of competitors Ather has: revolt, bajaj chetak, tvs iqube, Okinawa, ampere, hero electric scooters, and many more up coming well before 4-5 years.
You are absolutely right, people think like that, but do you know most people (especially in India) care more about? Lower upfront cost, longer range(mileage they say) and you know what will lead to faster adoption of e scooters? Not high priced model with all the bells and whistles(although it’s good for branding) but lower priced model. So lower priced model will appeal to more people and hence more vehicles will be sold and in turn we are making a positive environmental impact. So what Ather had done with 450x is right to catch attention and show that electric scooters are definitely as capable if not more than their petrol counterparts but they shouldn’t really wait 4-5 years for lower cost model, faster the better in this case.
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Chevy bolt came in 2016 much longer after Model S (2012). Model 3 came in 2017. Chevy bolt is a flop actually. They had to discount by huge amounts to sell it after model 3 released.
But the point is, when Tesla started in 2010, battery prices are very high. Now th battery prices are down by 86% compared to what they were in 2010. Means, battery that was 1 lakh in 2010 is now just 14,000 for the same capacity. Even between, 2016 when Ather first announced their scooter and 2019, in just 3 years battery prices are down by 46%. Higher volumes in 2020 will get lower battery prices than for low volume company in 2022 or 2023.
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I’m really not trying to justify anything here. Ather really should have brought a lower cost and maybe even same range of 85Km reasonable scooter. The 450 as of now is the closest to that. All of us have pointed out flaws in the dashboard and the lack of bluetooth, and not many owners have complained about the the range. That being said not a lot of people who needed longer range have bought the 450 in the first place, which begs the question, what exactly was the problem that 450X was the solution to? Especially in bangalore. The people who wanted a fast EV with moderate range, have already bought the 450 and only the niche crowd who really want the fastest and smartest ev will buy the 450X which isn’t a new Market in bangalore and chennai, but a small piece of the 450 market itself. The 450 was already proof of concept. So I wonder what was the need to make an even more premium scooter
I think Ather wants to get their production nunlmber up, even thought they’ve done it with the 450 already. I guess with the sales of the 450X they might realise that need a lower price point if you want to sell bigger numbers.
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In my observation, most EV manufacturers, including Tesla keeps facing a logistical problems in production. They have developed the technology, but the industrial ecosystem and capacity is not yet up to the mark to support a mass production. So it would appear to be a very sustainable strategy for Ather to enter markets with a more premium product with limited but quality demand; sort of like a tech demonstrator and build a brand reputation so that once the industry is ready, so will be the market to absorb a mass built product.
And something tells me some other brands will take a free sail into the market riding on Ather’s efforts, but the image of Ather in terms of audience and demand should become like Royal Enfield of electric 2 wheelers in the future and not like the Bajaj, TVS, Hero fraternity.
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Exactly what happened with the Bajaj chetak. And since Ather is launching in so many cities it forms a balance between moderate volume without overwhelming the production and being present across the country. Increasing their met valuation and brand value and then finally when the production is completely figured out, they’ll cash in on the brand value and efficient large scale production.
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A new article showing the tested specs of Simple Energy Mark 1(Prototype) has appeared:
Summary for those who don’t want to read the full article:
The tests results are:
- ARAI Range: 230km(eco mode) vs Simple initially claimed at 280km
- Top Speed: 103 kmph vs Simple initial claim of 100 kmph
- Acceleration: 0-50 in 3.6 seconds (Appears to be faster than 450x) vs Simple initial claim of 0-50 in 3.2 seconds.
Productions claims are:
- Will be eligible for FAME II
- Yelehanka factory for production of 50,000 units annually
- Smart features similar to Ather 450 ( article doesn’t mention bluetooth)
- Will be priced at 1.1 lakhs ( surprising, maybe they want to let go of profits to gain popularity).
Battery Claims:
- Will have fast charging 0-80% in 1 hour
- 4 kwh battery of 6kgs, this is seems to be a lie because this battery seems to have an energy density of 667 wh/kg, which is insane as not even Tesla at battery day claimed this much. A 667 wh/kg battery can actually be used to make electric planes.
Well even though some of the claims are off, the ARAI test results seem to be positive. Ather 450 ARAI range was 107 km, so this vehicle will most likely still give 150 km+ range in real life usage which itself seems like a deal breaker over the 450x at 1.1 lakh vs 1.6 lakh while still giving similar performance and features. Will have to wait and see, hope this is true because the pressure this will put on other companies to get better products at cheaper price will be beneficial for e-mobility to be adopted faster.
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They might be telling 6kg per module…then question arises how many modules???
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3 modules and total 18 kg
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Makes more sense. Revolts 4KWh pack is abour 21kilos.
Ya but so mark 2 needs 3 places to keep 3 modules
1 floor 2 underseat
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The price point here is astonishing. The way they can achieve this is by making battery expansion packs. One 4 kwh may be fixed and the other 2 expandable. It will most likely be a range vs weight compromise. Also no underseat storage by the looks of it and no disk brakes.
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Its good to hear about new start up Simple Energy and their range and speed. Not to forget their pricing too… But we all know its just their first test vehicle that has received certification. But a long way to go for them. Ofcouse the rendered pic of the scooter looks stunning and we all desire to have it.
They may take another 2 to 3 years or more to have the product ready and to be on road. Look at other startups like Mantis, Ultravoilet, Trox and others, they still dont have the product ready on road and its been almost 3 years or so.
when we compare other startups with Ather, i personally feel Ather was built around a dream and they achieved it. Thats what drove them to great milestones, and we get benefited by their awesome product.
Wish Ather gets more competition from other start ups and we get to ride extraordinary EV’s in future 
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Ather’s achievements are unparalleled in the Indian automobile market. Its easy to build a concept vehicle, but to cross the concept phase and reach production phase is way more difficult.
Ather may or may not get competition from other startups, but we will definitely see competition in EV space from the likes of Bajaj and Etergo (Ola electric), as they are rumored to setup 0.5 million and 2 million EV capacity plants in the near future. If they are successful in delivering volumes, then it will put pressure on traditional companies like Hero, TVS, Suzuki, Honda, etc… to bring electric vehicles to the market. With the current pricing of 450x, Ather will be a niche maker until and unless they bring a 2 wheeler with lower prices.
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They want to start production by Feb 2021 and want to launch the vehicle by mid 2021. Not sure if they can keep up with this but they seem to have a fixed time frame for the launch and sales of their vehicles. And I hope it is true because well, it would really sad to wait 2-3 years for it to come on road.
Very true… In reality, Concept -> Production is the harder than Dream -> Concept.
Not many could do it and Ather bringing their dream -> concept -> market and continuing to improve and expand is applaudable.
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