Royal Enfield Himalayan owner tries out the Ather electric scooter!

The future of mobility is expected to be dominated by electric vehicles around the world. Ather Energy, which is India’s first smart electric two-wheeler brand is getting recognized all over the country for its products. How does a conventional Royal Enfield Himalayan rider feel after riding an Ather S450 electric scooter? Well, Team-BHP member Jaggu has put up a post after riding the Ather S450. His regular rides are a Royal Enfield Himalayan and a remapped KTM 390 Duke.

After riding the Ather for a couple of days, he said that the scooter has enough punch in to be a regular companion of many. However, he likes geared two-wheelers more when it comes to riding satisfaction. He also says that the frame of the Ather S450 is really small for big riders and the seat is quite narrow too. He has also mentioned that he slides forward whenever he engages the brakes and it is a difficult task to stay in the same position under heavy braking.

He then mentions that Ather S450 is quite quick and may turn out to be quicker than the CVT scooters like Honda Activa. The scooter can outrun a few two-wheelers off the red light and catches quite an attention on the road. However, it is not as quick as the geared motorcycles.

The Ather S450 comes with two modes – Ride and Sport. In the Ride mode, Ather claims that the scooter can do 65 km on a full charge while in Sport mode, the range drops by 10 km but it is quicker. Ather is currently working on a new Eco mode, which will increase the range of the scooter by 10 km and the total range of the S450 will be around 75 km on a full charge.

Ather could not provide smartphone app connectivity for the test scooter but it is available for the owners. Apart from that, the rider also found out that the full touchscreen instrument cluster can be bright enough to glare the eyes at night and there is no setting to reduce the brightness manually or automatically. He even said that the intensity of the headlamp is not good enough to light up the roads at night properly.

The scooter can be charged through a household plus through a brick charger that is available with the scooter. This is a regular charging step. Ather also offers fast charging option through specialised chargers that are placed at many public places and can be installed at home too. The fast charging can quickly juice up the drained battery in the scooter. Another thing that he added in the experience is the regenerative braking, which is connected to the rear brake and the regeneration works only till the rear brake lever is engaged. So the scooter does not get extra range when there is no throttle input on the moving scooter. However, Ather has added that a feature will be added soon that will allow customers to choose from various levels of brake regeneration.

The Ather scooters are currently only available in Bangalore and the on-road price is Rs. 1.28 lakh. Ather is planning to expand and offer the scooter in various major cities of the country in the coming years.