We are all discussing OLA and Simple Energy especially after yesterday. But the nation…oops! the forum wants to know, is Ather planning something to keep it’s place with their 450x? Or are we still going to continue with the way it is? Knowing @tarun for how much ever time we interacted, I am sure he must be having something up his sleeves.
Ather’s response to this can make a big difference in my opinion.
@abhishek.balaji can we have a owners meet again?
I doubt any comebacks in terms of hardware as well as on the software front.
Hardware because they cannot upgrade battery size or Motor
Software i have no hopes because they had good head start of almost 3 years but they failed to do so and they are filled with bugs and glitches. I doubt some will pull a magic wand and they will compete with these two.
Build Quality is also not that great since the visor keeps on developing hair line cracks months after delivery.
It is imperative that Ather has to come up with some advancements with their existing and future products… 85 km range has become the talk of the past now… they need to atleast give us 100 kms range…
They can adopt portable battery like Simple One They can update and solve the bugs and front visor should replace with small modifications…all these will happen now seriously…otherwise cant sustain in the market…
I think it’s going to be impossible and also unfair to expect such a change as it may lead to complete design and structural change.
I guess @abhishek.balaji @tarun would answer to all of these, since there is no response from them after the launch as to what they would do to compete with ola and simple energy. How are they going to retain the customer base and reward them for the same.
… and do you think they are going to upgrade your, mine, or anybody else’s scooter for free with these so called updates? There isn’t even a 5V charging port for a mobile phone and @ather 's answer to this question is “we will release this feature in an upcoming model”, implying that “all you idiots who bought our overpriced product will have to sell what you paid through your nose for, and buy something even more expensive for full price to get a damn mobile charger”.
Considering how many components are shared between the 450 and 450 +/X, they could have offered to upgrade the old 450s to +/X spec for a nominal price, thereby ensuring that things were as convenient for existing loyal customers, and they didn’t have to unnecessarily manufacture more chassis. Instead of wasting time and effort on painting panels and those idiotic translucent panels, they could’ve officially offered wrap solutions. They forced existing customers to sell their existing scooters for a loss, and buy new ones for even more money, compounding that loss. What adds insult to injury is that the new product is not even that much of an improvement over the old one.
Take the front handle, for example. The 450 had nice weight distribution and the front end felt planted. The 450X always felt a bit squirrelly to me on the front end. I chalked this up to low grip from crappy tires, but recently learned that the 450 had a solid aluminum block for the handle, and the charger unit was built into the front, thus adding weight. Now the charger unit has been eliminated and the aluminum has been replaced by plastic, reducing the BOM cost, while at the same time, upsetting the front - back weight distribution, and making the front end lighter and less stable.
Add to the mix speculation and misinformation like this, and the situation becomes even more murky. If you take the footmat off, you will notice that there is a 2" gap between the trailing edge of the battery and th midframe that is completely empty. The battery pack can be enlarged to occupy that space and give you more range without any structural modifications to the chassis. The only question here is will existing customers be given an easy upgrade option if something like this comes out? Or will they be asked to fork out even more disproportionate amounts of money for a missing basic feature that is going to be passed off as an “upgrade”?
@ather ‘s lack of respect for their customers’ intelligence is mind boggling. If it continues like this, nobody will miss them when they’re gone.
I hate to agree to this…now only Ather has the answer. I am extremely happy with their service response atleast in my case. They have gone out of their standard procedures to sort my issues. Hope they dont give me an opportunity to put my S1 up for sale and go the OLA way. Will hate to do so.
Need it right now…, Please
Ather can comeback but the main question is are the willing to These are some feasible options which they can work on: @abhishek.balaji @tarun kindly do take these as a serious request if you want to keep ather in competition.
Extend the warranty of the vehicle including battery to 5 years
Remove subscription for using maps, bluetooth and calls
Release the softwares but make sure those are bug free. Extensive internal testing.
Make sure the grids in the city are operational. 1 out every 3 point has a fault Use your strength and charging network as USP.
There are so many i can brain storm right now i hope you guys have to. I have criticised before but since i am an ather owner here are some which can be used for a quick turn around. If you need more kindly do message me.
Not to forget increasing the top speed to atleast the same as OLA if not 120 kmph
Also, something needs to be done about the ultra premium we seemed to have paid for the scooter itself. Ather needs to take care of its early adopters.
The software updates scenario definitely needs to change. I mean, even the auto indicators stopped working. I simply did not think it was fair, so I decided not to give more money to the already substandard service.
@ather Yes, removing the subscription for checking battery charge, location and navigation would be a good start to Ather’s comeback !
In order to give the ather owners a sense that they are not left out and not being cheated by Ather , i feel like the first step should be extending the warranty from 3 years to 5 years as we have already paid a premium. Since ather advertising claims that nothing will happen to the battery till 7-8 years , assurance would be highly welcome. Kindly do upvote members if you want the same for your vehicle.
@abhishek.balaji kindly do take note of this post
I have no issues with the range of Ather but yeah if it can go a lill further per charge that will be real bonus. They should however solve 2 major pain points:
Going through this thread, My trust with Series 1 is a Joke, looks like Ather has kept the “Beta Tester” in good books,
Unfortunately I opted for Seris1, and only when I met with an accident on my series 1, and it opened a can of worms.
Body parts of Series 1 are Costlier than regular 450x
Service Pro subscription pickup services are not applicable for a vehicle that met with an accident.
There is no way to keep in touch with the workshop team, a regular cycle repair in Decathlon has dedicated workshop contact.
Wether you are a customer or anyone interested in Ather has to go through the same Lines and Call centre which comes with its own challenges, till date I haven’t been able to get in touch with the “Gods Gift to Mankind Ather Customer Support” on first or many times even on 3 calls, in case call goes through ans you get in touch, its takes more than 1 agent to understand customer issue.
After taking the vehicle for parts replacement, they screwup the warp mode. now there is disturbing vibration when the bike comes to an halt, for few seconds.
To fix the issue I have only one option Personally take the thing to their tech park office.
Since several months I have been reporting serious app sync issues, and now I have been told to have to wait till that issue is sorted, once and if that is resolved, I am supposed to take the vehicle to their business centre personally to prove that my issue is genuine, meaning even here Service Pro pickup drop entitled under subscription is not valid.
Not able to get simple faulty indicator switch fixed, that was reported 5 months ago, Ather randomly closed support tickets.
Only way to report an issue now on the is to call “Gods gift to mankind Ather Customer Service” on the APP, they have removed the in app message feature that had options to attach screen shots.
In just 6 months I have spent close to 1,80,000 on SERES 1, including repair cost. mind it most of the 6 month the thing was just parked due to lock down restriction.
For the premium price and 1.5 years wait, I was treated and still being treated like a joker by the “gods gift to mankind” Ather customer service,
I now have lost hopes that this premium piece of two wheeler S#!% will even last as long as advertised and I might have to stop using it eventually due to the Faulty Customer support and Premium Service costs in maintaining it.
I feel like a victim going through some kind of extortion.
With heavy heart and after several attempts to get value for money I have have only met with disappointing response or radio silence.
Awaiting practical and honest response, I might consider other legal means to get justice.
VG
Top speed of 450x can and should be increased their justification of 90km/h is more than enough for scooters in city uses doesn’t seem to hold good now all other EV’s are coming out with 100km/h speed. They haven’t still given option for real-time range. They have something cooking up for sure but they won’t offer it to existing owner’s instead another new product launch for sure.
Ah !! The typical Ather experience. I faced the same issue but not in terms of hardware but software, they kept my vehicle for 3 days and still the same issue. It is a good thing people are moving towards the right direction opting OLA / Simple Energy. I am pretty sure after the launch and the testing of both OLA / SE ather is going to be quiet as it is now and will give no benefits for paying premium. I can already see an end soon for this business Model.
The only possible thing I could expect is increasing the warranty and Free or way cheaper prices for the Subscriptions, I had my Ather for a month now and I feel Showing Battery percent on the app is a basic requirement even without a subscription.
The only thing ather can do is to get a totally new vehicle. Decreasing the price of 450X is useless cuz other companies have much better range and performance for much lesser the price tag. And true fact is that even if they get 450’s prices down people will still go for Ola or simple energy cuz of there range.only thing we can expect from ather could be
1)better top speed in 450X (which is possible I guess)
Or
2)a totally cost efficient scooter with much higher range and performance
3)or maybe same price such as 450X(because there are people who pay Premium price for a class leading performance such as all the 450X owners )but with much better performance which should be faster then simple one and ola. and with the range of 180KM+
But now Nothing can be done with present 450X’s.