[Grace]

Did Tarun mention whether they are looking for dealers? How many showrooms / selling points they have in the city currently?

Andy

[aim120]

Ather directly sells it to customers, no middle man or dealers, like tesla.

[anujmishra]

Few observations from initial post:

1. The design seems to be borrowed from Honda Dio. The lines & curves of scooter makes me feel like that.
2. So, they will track where all users of this scooter will go with their navigation software and for me this is invading my privacy and BIG NO. They will certainly use this data for recommendation of products & services(Read: Flipkart) & by selling it to advertising agencies.
3. They have not revealed the cost of battery replacement. Yes, it will cost bomb when replacing it. Example: Reva: Battery costs upwards of 3 lakhs for the 8 lakhs car. If they receive some generous funding then they will give some attractive price but it may not be sustainable.
4. It is not carbon footprint free vehicle. There will be definitely some 30-40% of Carbon footprint there. Hope they have not claimed they manufactured each part of scooter as Carbon footprint free.

[Alfresco]

Originally Posted by blackwasp

What is the model that the company is going to follow for future dealerships? I for one hope that they just open company owned showrooms rather than the usual franchise model. I am happy to see Indian guys developing such a good product right from scratch. Good to see positive responses for the scooters.

Wishing them all the success.

They have to keep doing things differently. This product is like the iPhone compared to the other brands and they should treat it as such.

We don’t have Apple stores in our country but if Ather keeps following the same concept and keeps major retail in its own hands then they shall build up a brand loyalty second to none.

I fervently wish this Made-in-India project to succeed.

[Chillout]

Originally Posted by anujmishra

Few observations from initial post:

1. The design seems to be borrowed from Honda Dio. The lines & curves of scooter makes me feel like that.
2. So, they will track where all users of this scooter will go with their navigation software and for me this is invading my privacy and BIG NO. They will certainly use this data for recommendation of products & services(Read: Flipkart) & by selling it to advertising agencies.
   

I for sure don't feel it's inspired by Dio, this one has a uniqueness to it and kind of funky. May be the funkiness reminds you of Dio.

Also I don't think they would sell the data they capture to outsiders and marketing folks, CEO is a young guy and I am sure is aware of the privacy concern. I am sure a quick mail to Tarun would have this clarified.

Looks like a lot of R & D has gone into this product and cost would be higher, else they wouldn't be able to recover their costs, this is obviously a premium scooter. I am sure they would reveal the battery costs shortly, however with a battery life of 50k,i am not going to be worried about the replacement unless one fails prematurely.

[avanishphatak]

This is a presentation by Tarun Mehta in IIM. A lot of thought has gone into the making of the Ather bikes. Quite informative. Watch on when you have some free time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVTVoKFqZ30

[narayans80]

For a nascent company building its 1st generation product, this looks fantastic. Its leagues ahead of what Hero is producing at the moment. I do have a few questions:

- What GST is Ather One going to fall under? 5% for EV?
- If Ather One includes battery replacement cost (in case it falls apart) it makes perfect sense to subscribe to this plan.
- Any idea on expansion plans to other cities?

[sri_tesla]

Originally Posted by anujmishra

Few observations from initial post:

1. So, they will track where all users of this scooter will go with their navigation software and for me this is invading my privacy and BIG NO. They will certainly use this data for recommendation of products & services(Read: Flipkart) & by selling it to advertising agencies.

Doesn't google also has all that information where we are going to eat or shop by that logic? In fact that is what is done by Google or Facebook. When the product is free, you are the product.

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by skoda0505

I was interested in seeing how the parking assist and the reverse gear works for a two wheeler. If possible can you please post a video (or a link if it's already available online) of the same ?

Ather calls this reverse mode as "Park Assist". With the key turned on, you have to 1. press the brake lever, 2. press the indicator button at its center position, and 3. press the ignition button. When you do all these three at once, the reverse mode gets engaged. The display shows "reverse" when it is engaged. It also gives out a beeping sound. Turn the accelerator and the scooter moves backward. It is limited to a maximum of 3kmph. Press the ignition again and the direction changes to forward.
Instead of pressing all these three buttons together, alternatively you could slide the "park assist" button on the bottom left of the main display to the bottom center and the park assist is engaged.
I didn't make a video, but below is the Autocar review of Ather 450.
08:42 to 08:56 of this video shows the reverse feature.

https://youtu.be/O7AqcRNOefQ

Originally Posted by anujmishra

Few observations from initial post:
The design seems to be borrowed from Honda Dio. The lines & curves of scooter makes me feel like that.

It looks different IMO. the headlamp on the body might be a reason for your feeling. But this is slimmer, cleaner and looks taller too. More than the Dio, it looks like an Aprilia SR150 IMO.

So, they will track where all users of this scooter will go with their navigation software and for me this is invading my privacy and BIG NO. They will certainly use this data for recommendation of products & services(Read: Flipkart) & by selling it to advertising agencies.

This data tracking can be turned off by the user.

They have not revealed the cost of battery replacement. Yes, it will cost bomb when replacing it. Example: Reva: Battery costs upwards of 3 lakhs for the 8 lakhs car. If they receive some generous funding then they will give some attractive price but it may not be sustainable.

There is a 3 years/unlimited kilometres warranty on the battery pack. After that, even if it costs 30K, it would still be ok I guess because it would've saved you that amount by then.
Overall, including this battery pack replacement, the ownership cost will neither be cheaper nor expensive compared to a conventional scooter IMO (125cc).

It is not carbon footprint free vehicle. There will be definitely some 30-40% of Carbon footprint there. Hope they have not claimed they manufactured each part of scooter as Carbon footprint free.

They haven't claimed it as 0-carbon footprint vehicle. In fact, I didn't see one place where they've highlighted the "Green" aspect. They've only written about an efficient, smart, connected vehicle.

Originally Posted by narayans80

- What GST is Ather One going to fall under? 5% for EV?

GST for automobiles is 28%. GST for EV is 12%. So this will be under 12% GST AFAIK.
Lifetime road tax in Bangalore is 13% for ICE scooters. But for an EV it is 4%.

- Any idea on expansion plans to other cities?

I read somewhere that Pune and Chennai are the next cities that Ather is targeting. But that may be only in 2019 I guess.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by anujmishra

2. So, they will track where all users of this scooter will go with their navigation software and for me this is invading my privacy and BIG NO. They will certainly use this data for recommendation of products & services(Read: Flipkart) & by selling it to advertising agencies.

Already covered, in the previous page:

Originally Posted by dreamseller

In case one doesn't want to share data with Ather, one can also switch that off in settings.

Originally Posted by anujmishra

It is not carbon footprint free vehicle. There will be definitely some 30-40% of Carbon footprint there. Hope they have not claimed they manufactured each part of scooter as Carbon footprint free.

Where did they make that claim? Seems like an odd objection to 'hope' that a company did not make a particular claim without bothering to check if they really did or not.

And again, already covered:

Originally Posted by am1m

Forget the argument about whether e-bikes are really 'clean' overall or not, considering that most of our electricity is still generated by polluting coal-fired plants, if these e-bikes (and eventually cars) can eliminate exhaust emissions in our cities, that's still a big positive step for our personal health. Not to mention the lower overall noise generated by these vehicles.

[srishiva]

I agree on the product completely except for two things
- Having to use their own software for connectivity instead of Android Auto or Carplay. Why even develop something when you can use Google/Apple expertise that is going to expand rapidly?
- They are short on range for the basic model by about 40-50 kms

[dreamseller]

Originally Posted by srishiva

- Having to use their own software for connectivity instead of Android Auto or Carplay. Why even develop something when you can use Google/Apple expertise that is going to expand rapidly?

While I'm no expert, from my limited understanding it is analogous to an always connected OBD, that wirelessly tells the database about how the vehicle is behaving in different riding conditions, and (unlike an OBD) can rewrite the logic in the ECU (through OTA updates) to make the motor work in the most efficient way. And I'll not be surprised if this is based on a linux kernel similar to that of the Android OS.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by srishiva

- They are short on range for the basic model by about 40-50 kms

The on-road between 340 and 450 is 15K. If I am plonking a lakh on a bike, I'd rather buy the 450. I find the 450's range quite decent, it would meet the daily ride of myself and everyone I know.

I'd honestly put reliability and company's after sales ahead of the range concern. If they address this and have a positive word of mouth from early birds, that'll be a motivational factor for the next wave of buyers.

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by srishiva

- They are short on range for the basic model by about 40-50 kms

Agree on the range part.
Is a city commuter and most prospective customers would look at it to use it for daily office commute. I would like one charge to last me a week of use, which means around 100km, or 20km daily ride on average. Let's have 20-25% of buffer and we get range of about 125KM which would make this scooter a real attractive proposition.

[ksameer1234]

Originally Posted by joslicx

I would like one charge to last me a week of use, which means around 100km, or 20km daily ride on average. Let's have 20-25% of buffer and we get range of about 125KM which would make this scooter a real attractive proposition.

Why charge only once a week? If power cable is available at the parking spot, I'll rather prefer to plug in into the charger every evening after returning from work. Assuming the connected to internet feature of the scooter works as expected, I would be able to turn charging on/off from the smartphone, or even schedule it as per convenience.

By the way, how difficult would it be for Ather to set up one fast charging system in a residential complex with multiple connections drawn from that. One can plug many scooters to the charger and then book time-slots for charging. That way, one charger can serve many scooters, may be even charging 10-12 scooters through the night!