[Samurai]

Didn't want to post this in any official threads, because this is totally an OT post. I think I found the doppelganger (look-alike) of Ather CEO.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4dEXXsiOrA

[hemanth.anand]

Our scooter crossed this unique ODO reading last weekend.


The ODO on the 450 is not displayed during riding and hence I miss taking pictures of most of the landmarks. it was a nice co-incidence that I'd stopped the vehicle at this reading and noticed it.

An absent minded biker came and hit the scooter from behind at the Silkboard junction when my wife waiting for at the red signal! Thankfully it didn't damage much...The saree guard was bent but we were able to bend it back to position by hand.

Other than that, the scooter is performing flawlessly...even in Bengaluru rains

[hemanth.anand]

During my Mysuru trip, I had observed that the boot lamp was turning yellow on one side.


yellowing

During the Owners' meet, Ather had also stationed some service guys to address individual issues. I brought this to their notice there and they replaced the light on the spot. It took some 30 minutes.

Otherwise, the scooter has been performing well. The ODO is around 4600kms and the first 5000km service may happen sometime next month.


Smooth sailing

[hemanth.anand]

We were not in town during the Dasara festival and after 9 days of sitting idle, the scooter crossed the 5000 Kms mark yesterday evening.



This is a major milestone as the first service will be done at 5000 Kms. I called up Ather and booked for service. They'll pick the scooter up tomorrow evening and work will start on Saturday morning at their location.

The rear portion which comprises of black plastic mud guard and the number plate holder is shaking and making rattling noises on rough roads (which are plenty in our city). This is the only major complaint I have. A minor one is that the rubber covers for the cubby holes in the boot have warped and lost their shape. Will bring it to the service team's notice.

On the firmware front, We got a small patch yesterday that has removed some bugs (scooter not syncing properly with App) that were present in the previous big update.

[Mortis]

Is it possible for you to go with the bike to have a look at what all work is carried out by Ather for a full service ? I'm asking because in their packages service costs seemed a bit high considering electric vehicles are supposed to be low maintenance due to fewer working parts.

Also have they come up with a centre stand that can be fitted ?

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by Mortis

Is it possible for you to go with the bike to have a look at what all work is carried out by Ather for a full service ?

I don't think they allow that. I've not checked with them though.

I'm asking because in their packages service costs seemed a bit high considering electric vehicles are supposed to be low maintenance due to fewer working parts.

I guess you meant "moving" parts because there are so many working parts in an EV
Jokes apart, Maintenance is certainly lesser for an EV. The subscription plans of Ather do feel expensive but since my vehicle is on lease and all maintenance is covered in the lease plan itself, I'm not bothered much.

Also have they come up with a centre stand that can be fitted ?

they never had plans of such a thing AFAIK. Centre stand or any other hardware additions is not on the cards for the current version of the scooter. Ather had made this clear in many events

[hemanth.anand]

The scooter was picked up as scheduled on Friday evening. The executive who picked up, inspected the scooter in detail, heard all our issues (not many) before taking the scooter. This whole exercise took a good 15 minutes. He told that the service work would be started on Saturday morning.

Saturday afternoon, I called the customer service asking for the current status as I'd not got any information whatsoever after the scooter was picked up. He told that the scooter is ready for delivery but would be delivered on Sunday as there are no executives to deliver it. I asked what all work was carried out. he listed down the issue about the rattling I had mentioned and it's been sorted out. Apart from that, all regular checks was performed he informed. I was ok with the delivery time (as long as we get it before Monday) and hence ended the call.

Later he called me again and told that he can deliver that day itself as they could get a delivery rider. As per schedule, it reached me by 5:30PM. I went for a test ride and the rattling was gone, the Saree guard and the mud guard were all tightened. Cost...obviously Zero.

The good:

• Pickup and delivery perfectly on time
• Issues solved (all minor though)
• ease of service

Could've been better:

• Communication: No body called me before starting the work and after completion. Only when I called I got the information.

Overall a satisfying service experience.

Two days ago I got the electricity consumption reimbursement for Q3, 2019.
I keep a monthly record of the vehicle odo it was 2792kms for the period of July1 to Sep30 2019. The consumption was 138.72 units and Hence I got
₹901.70 at the rate of ₹6.5 per unit. This comes down to ₹0.32 per km.

However I'm in a slab higher than this and I've to pay ₹7.8 per unit. That is ₹1,082.16 in total for 3 months. this comes down to ₹0.38 per km. Still 5 times cheaper running cost per km than a petrol scooter.


Today, The leasing company Autovert sent me the following detail:



A nice thing to know. I'm pretty sure that this calculation will not have accounted the carbon generated for electricity generation. Nevertheless I like this initiative of making us aware of the small difference we are making.

[hemanth.anand]

My scooter’s turn indicators suddenly stopped working properly on 25th October. Someone told me that it might because of dust inside the switch. Using my car’s tyre inflator I cleaned the indicator switch but it didn’t work. Two days later registered a complaint on the Ather App.

https://youtu.be/S7wShzIKPfk

I got a reply back asking me to shutdown and restart the scooter to solve the issue. Instead of shutting down, I tried the Cntrl+Alt+Del of Ather...which is pressing both brakes and the power button together for 7secs or more. After this, the scooter reboots once. This solved the problem! My thought was "Why didn't I try this before registering the complaint"

Yesterday I was idle at home and hence took my Ather to do some small aesthetic additions.

1. The white area of the sidepanel just beside the floorboard was prone to scratches by the feet. Due to this the edges of the PPF layer in this area has started to come off. So got a thin black stripe pasted which not only protects the panel but also the PPF.



2. Many people who see the vehicle used to ask me where to plug in the charger to the scooter. I have a PETROL sticker on my car for the fuel cap and that gave me an idea. I got this done on the charging port cap. It’s the fiber number plate material laser cut.



3. I had got the tyre valve changed to the straight one instead of the L shaped one. During that, because of the tool to remove the tyre, the black paint on the alloy wheel edges had chipped off at some places.



Thought of doing something to cover that up and make it bit more sporty in the process. So got these stipes on the wheel. They are vinyl stickers





4. I was reminded of another idea with tomorrow being November 1st (Kannada Rajyotsava).


ಎಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ ಕನ್ನಡ ರಾಜ್ಯೋತ್ಸವದ ಶುಭಾಶಯಗಳು

Today I observed that the piece of plastic covering the motor fan has fallen off somewhere on the road.



Had I known where it fell, I could’ve fit it back but I don’t know where it fell down. So, I called the customer care and asked them to install a new one. It’ll be done on Monday.

It was not a very nice fitting piece from the beginning and it gave up finally. This was the exact observation made by CrAzY dRiVeR in the official review too

I was riding quite spiritedly today inside the city. Because we hardly get such empty roads (thanks to Deepavali and Kannada Rajyotsava falling in the same week). Must have fell off somewhere during that

[hemanth.anand]

The scooter crossed 6000kms on 20th November. Performing it's daily duties without any issues.

6k kms

Some software glitches show up some days but it solves itself or a simple Cntrl+Alt+Del (both brakes + power for 15 secs) will solve it. Couple of example being the indicators not working. And the charger port not getting locked by the solenoid (but charges without any problem).


Then, I had ordered embossed plates online on Orbiz. From my enquiry...they are the only website or shop that do embossed green plates. The white was fading away and becoming green. Today after a wash, all numerals became green. So I took matter into my own hands and painted it with oil paint that was used to paint grill at home.

[hemanth.anand]

My Ather crossed 7000kms on Saturday 28th Dec. Actually it was 6964kms on Friday evening when I returned back from office. I went on a small ride on Saturday morning to a lake nearby just to complete 7000kms
Some pictures…


7000


Wheeekend!


Carving a new path


Stonewall


My phone’s new Wallpaper

[hemanth.anand]

I got the amount credited in my bank account yesterday afternoon.



Usually, I ride around 1000kms a month. But due to Dasara, Deepavali and Christmas school holidays, the scooter was not used as much. In the October-December Quarter, my scooter has covered 2112kms in total (Odo reading 4947 to 7059)

I have now got a reimbursement of ₹722.15 which comes up to ₹0.34 per km. Since Ather reimburses at the rate of ₹6.50 per unit (for Chennai it is ₹4.60 per unit), my scooter has consumed 111.10 units (kWh).
However the highest BESCOM slab for my home is ₹7.80 per unit.
So I actually have spent ₹866.58 for 2112kms which is ₹0.41 per km

The cost per km has been approximately the same for the last 4 quarters for which I got reimbursements. Assuming a ₹2.0 per km for a 125cc ICE scooter, I’ve spent around ₹11,300 less over these 7059kms and 10 months.

However One thing that you may notice…111.1 units for 2112kms translates to 52.6Wh/Km efficiency. However On the Ather app, I’m aways between 30-45 Wh/Km which is 38 Wh/Km on an average. This 15 Wh/km difference is Due to the vampire drain. The ride stats efficiency on the app is calculated only when we're riding. When the vehicle is idle (which it was during the holidays), there is some idle battery drain in the 450. The reimbursement calculation includes the energy lost due to idle drain also, hence the huge 52.6Wh/km efficiency numbers. I had observed around 9% idle drain per day and this adds up. If I had shut down the drain would've been lesser.

[hemanth.anand]

My scooter crossed 8000kms yesterday. The scooter also completed 11 months this week. In May 2019, my scooter ran for less than 100 kms (78kms to be exact) and in August 2019, it ran for almost 1200kms. The average running so far is around 725kms per month.


The number plate frame from Orbiz has started to shake and make noise every time I go over speed breakers. should find some way to damp that. probably a 3M DST should do the trick.

[hemanth.anand]

Yesterday my scooter completed 1 year (366 days) and it’s been a nice journey of 8758kms.

The good:
I've almost spent nothing on running on maintenance in these 8758kms. In comparison to our Vespa S125, we've saved around ₹17,500 on petrol and around ₹5,000 on regular services. Having purchased this on lease, I will not spend a rupee on service or electricity for the next two years also.
Performance wise, it’s running just the way it did an year ago. There is no drop in range or performance.
The less noise pollution and air pollution compared to the petrol scooter as an added bonus.

The not so good side:
Software glitches like freezing screen, app not syncing are irritating but they are negligible ans they have not affected performance.
There are no company provided basic accessories like vehicle cover, seat cover, handle grip and floor mats available.

Overall, it's been a good experience so far. Rain, nails, bad roads, no roads, good roads it has shone everywhere and all our apprehensions about "this is a new electric scooter from a startup is gone". Every time I twist the throttle the torque and the complimenting whee sound brings a smile on my face. The below picture is very apt for the occasion...

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!


Before you ask me, the above cake was made for my nephew's birthday. he is in love with our Ather and in 2019, he had a small Ather theme Birthday!

[hemanth.anand]

Ather released an OTA update last month. Much needed and the much awaited dark theme finally became a reality with this.

Before the OTA release, they had asked members of their forum if they would want to be pilot users of this ready-to-be released updates. I had signed up and there were some 50 other owners too.

The bright and white LCD dashboard was a pain for the eyes during night times. It was also an unnecessary attention seeker. It was to a certain extent dangerous too as the rider could get blinded.

It downloaded on the day and since I didn't manually intervene, like always it got automatically updated at 3AM the next day. Below is how my experience was with this update…

The next day when I switched it on, the first screen I saw said “Completing…” with a progress bar below. Couple of minutes later I saw the message that the scooter is updated to 4.2.0.783437.


Updated

The scooter booted up and I heard the usual “tiding” sound. But for the first time ever, my scooter dashboard didn’t turn on. The headlights were on but the screen was blank. I was fearing this but wasn’t actually expecting that.


Blank!


I turned off, removed the key and turned on again. This time there was no issue!

I went into the settings screen immediately and saw the 3 new buttons Light, Dark and Auto. Light mode was on by default. Switched to Dark and in 1 second the white & green theme turned to Black and Blue theme. Nice…


Light mode


Dark mode is finally here!

Took the vehicle outside to see it in the ambient light. The screen was dull and readabillity was a little too low for my liking. When I increased the brightness to almost full, it was perfect. But then I realized that during night times or in basements or if I switch back to Light mode, the LCD screen will still be too bright and dazzling at this level. Tried Autobrightness but it was (it has always been) a little too high for me.


A little too dull


Ok for outside, but too bright for night time

Although I’d have loved to use the dark mode all the time, I realised soon that in order to have the best readability/visibility and still not be dazzled by the screen, it would be best to switch to Auto mode with my preferred level of brightness.


Auto mode and preferred brightness level

Since there is no Ambient Lisght Sensor (ALS), the Auto mode will apply the dark mode from 6PM to 6AM and the Light mode from 6AM to 6PM.

http://youtu.be/ujECU__vwFQ

Ather dashboard Auto mode

I then changed over to the navigation screen. The map screen too looks really nice in dark mode. The touchscreen panning was now really smooth.

I called my friend who also has an Ather and I wanted to show (off) him this new update and make a comparison. So I started to search for his apartment address on the navigation screen and when I selected the address from the search result, it said Connectivity issues: cannot look up. Even after repeating the search operation, I got the same error message even though there was full signal strength


Connectivity issues:cannot look up

http://youtu.be/RsC8w_yusiM

Connectivity issues

However, I searched the same location on the Ather app and pushed it to the scooter and it worked like a charm and immediately appeared on the scooter too.

Typing on the touchscreen has improved a lot without a doubt but it is still far away from being good…many keys are not easily recognized and need a real hard tap.

I rode to my friend’s home which is around 3kms. During the ride I noticed that my indicators were cutting off neatly…don’t know if anything was done here, but it worked perfectly unlike before. The red halo( instantaneous on the black dash looked beautiful. I also felt that the red halo appears slower/later than it used to earlier.

Once I reached my friend’s home, we kept both scooters side by side and started comparing.


Black and white

We tested the mode retention feature…I shut down the scooter in sports mode and after restart, it stayed in sports mode. My friend’s scooter which had the previous version still, went to eco mode after shutting down in sports mode.

http://youtu.be/z_929gr8PjA

Mode retention

Next I told his that it didn’t look up his home address. We tried to recreate the bug. I searched for my office address and it did so seamlessly. Then we tried to look up Ather space and the bug came back. This time the difference was that it didn’t show any error message but simply failed to complete the search and start navigation.

http://youtu.be/WtNLKXcRHEk

Ather navigation search issue

After having checked the major changes in this update, I headed back home. While checking we found some misses in this dark mode. Couple of screens like the startup splash screen and the typre pressure information screen are always in light mode even when the setting is in dark mode. The pilot users have given this feedback to rectify.

To summarize, this update gave the dark mode which was much needed. Mode retention is another good thing. But still there are bugs (like my screen going blank but scooter runs normally) which needs to be addressed.

Last weekend, a colleague of mine got his Ather delivered and he wanted to have a casual talk. Instead we decided to go on a small ride. Called another friend who has a four month old Ather. All 3 of us went till Ramohalli Dodda aladmara (big banyan tree) for a small ride of 25+25kms ride. Some snaps from that...


Enroute on NICE.


Three together


The 3 of us


We two our's two


Social distancing


A GTO inspired shot

[hemanth.anand]

Ather usage has dropped down drastically (so has other vehicles). Since March it has covered only 200kms. Mid-July, I got the reimbursement of my home charging electrical consumption for Q2 2020. I got a reimbursement for 0.8 units. I immediately knew it was wrong.

From the ODO readings I exactly knew that I had run 0.9kms in April, 9.6kms in May and 102.7kms in June. Ride statistics on my app showed rides amounting to 0.7kms in April, 5Kms in May and 30.9kms in June. I generally don't bother about what is shown in the app. I just raise a ticket and all the unsynced ride data will appear after they solve that ticket. Even here I did the same and stopped worrying.

Ather has been sending monthly ride logs for all users Since March. I had not received any log in April as it was less than a km. In May too log wasn't sent and In June's the log, it said 29kms. When the Reimbursements came, it was evident that I was reimbursed only for usage that is shown in the log.

I raised a separate ticket for that and also called their customer care and told them my issue. Meanwhile my rides were not syncing till last week. Last week July and August's data got synced and is appearing correctly in the app (matching the ODO). The data sync issue and the reimbursement for Q2 is still being worked upon.

Meanwhile the July's ride log is already sent out to people and I haven't received it. so have raised a ticket for this too. Because my usage has been really low, the difference in reimbursements is negligible. But if I look at the percentage of mismatch, it is huge. hopefully they come up with a solution sooner or later.

Either I've hit a bad patch or I'm the only one who has kept track of data so that I'm able to catch the mismatch or others have not reported but this seems to be an issue only for me.