India is hot on heels to become the leader in electric alternatives for personal transportation with a new one coming up every day. Why not? It is the biggest market of two-wheelers in the world.

A Bangalore-based startup, Ather Energy, has been in this pursuit since their inception in 2013 and are on an epic journey to give the country’s first premium smart electric scooter christened as Ather S340. The company was founded by two IIT-ians who are committed to building smart, connected, uncompromising vehicles and seeks to reimagine urban commute with the help of technology.

Their first offering is the Ather S340, which they are building it from the ground up and promise to change the way we perceive the electric transport till now. The company has received fundings to the tune of $1 million from Flipkart, $11 million from Tiger Global and the very recently $ 30 million from the world’s biggest manufacturer of two-wheelers, Hero MotoCorp. This has allowed Ather to sustain momentum in its journey of building a future-ready product platform and to accelerate the infrastructure and ecosystem development around electric vehicles in the world.

STYLING

The design philosophy of the scooter is a result of the inspirations taken from the performance motorcycles having a dynamic silhouette with lines and curves flowing smoothly around the body. A kicked back rear tire section and a distinct forward-leaning profile gives the S340 a sporty stance, which is a newfound way to go with every other motorcycle coming on the streets.

Out front, you get a smart LED headlamp that operates itself depending on the ambient light conditions and controls the intensity to suitably illuminate your path effortlessly without you having to squint. The front looks sharp, and the folks at Ather have done a good job in keeping up with the proportions of the vehicle all the way to the rear.

The rear section also gets futuristic looking LED treatment. A part of the subframe is exposed under the rider seat and is given a green color pigmentation which by far looks attractive and contrasts the scooter’s white body. Talking about practicality, the scooter can accommodate two helmets under the seat.

The dashboard is an interesting piece of a device which has a 7” touchscreen that integrates itself with the vehicle’s firmware. It offers various level of personalization for each rider, and you can also select from two riding modes: Sport and Economy, within the dashboard. You can also connect your smartphone to the bike’s systems that can allow you to configure your ride and profile preference.

What it also does is, alert you if your scooter is being a victim of theft. It syncs your GPS navigation and displays it onto your dashboard so that you never lose your way or stop to know your way. Pretty cool if you ask me.

Overall Dimension

POWERTRAIN

The S340 makes use of an electrically powered motor and a battery pack to power the scooter forward and backward. YES! This scooter has a reverse gear too.

Perfect for running around the urban jungle, the system will give you a healthy 37 miles range at the least with a top speed of 45 mph. All the power and torque of 10 lb-ft is served to the rider instantly which will give you an edge in stop and go traffic conditions. The power is transmitted via an industry first belt drive. The battery can be charged through any 5A socket and will give a dash charge of 80% within 50 minutes and a full charge under 1.5 hours.

The battery pack also includes the battery monitoring system (BMS) which is an in-house design to be structurally robust, thermally efficient and intelligently packed. You can get an uncompromised ride for nearly 31,000 miles. The IP 67 rated battery pack can wade through 1 m of water for 30 minutes and will still pull you out of trouble without a sweat.

Ather will constantly be monitoring the vehicle’s critical data and regularly keep improving the firmware and software and update them via air. This will open up a lot of opportunities to enhance your riding experience constantly within the same vehicle, which will be an all new thing to experience your ride getting better and better. What more exciting is that the battery can manage itself during long breaks in ‘Vacation mode’.

Engine Specification

CHASSIS

Making use of aluminum for the scooter’s construction, Ather has managed to keep the weight below 200 lbs. With the size being similar to any 100cc scooter plying on the road, its electric motor will give it instant delivery to make you feel like Rossi. Nonetheless, its ergonomics are well suited for an urban commute and quick dashes to your grocery store.

A balanced front and rear weight ratio of 51 : 49 will give the scooter better riding dynamics, and it has the stability to negotiate even the harshest city streets, thanks to the zero lateral offset and low center of gravity with the battery pack mounted on the floor.

The exact specification of the suspension and braking units are not released, but we can see inverted forks at the front and a mono shock unit at the rear to provide a supple yet steady ride. The scooter makes use of Brembo’s Indian made ByBre two-piston caliper units biting the disc both at the front and rear. Front and rear disc brakes with a combined braking system (CBS) for optimum braking. Stylishly designed alloy wheels give the scooter a sporty outlook, and wide radials will keep the scooter planted.

Chassis Specifications

PRICE

No official statements regarding the pricing are out, but we believe that it will be strategically priced at around $ 1,500. This has also been made possible because of the government’s initiatives towards electrical and hybrid eco-systems like the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020 and FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles).

Pre-orders open in June, but only in India. We have seen only one color option on the palette – White body and green impeachments on the subframe that looks very modern and black alloys having green pinstripes.

COMPETITON

Vespa Electtrica

Although Piaggio took its own time to offer an electric vehicle, it is late by no means. Unveiled at the EICMA last week, the Electtrica is the electric version of Vespa’s Primavera scooter with a lithium-ion battery and a 4kW motor that is guaranteed to get you 62 miles on a single charge.

The lithium-ion battery power unit is capable of delivering a continuous power of 2 kW and a peak power of 4 kW and takes just 4 hours for a full recharge. The scooter also benefits from motorsport tech know as KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) that recharges the battery while decelerating. The Electtrica is also high on electronic packaging with remote key, LED surround lights, USB charger, Ride-by-Wire and two riding modes for you to chose from. And the best part of it all, it gets a Reverse mode as well.

Vespa is also adding a hybrid ’X’ version to the Electtrica. It will carry an onboard petrol-powered generator to double the range of the scooter by recharging the batteries on the fly. And with the battery efficiency rated to 1000 full charge cycles, one can use the Electtrica for 30,000 to 40,000 miles before you might have to replace the battery or the motor. Now that is some bargain.

22 Motors Flow

22 Motors from the Indian subcontinent have come up with an electric scooter that was unveiled at the 2018 Indian Auto Expo. Called as the’ 22 Motors Flow’, the scooter has various smart Internet of Things (IoT) features seen unlike on any other electric offerings in the recent past. Made for Indian conditions and commuters, the Flow comes with latest technologies like Artificial Intelligence (yes, you read that right), Lithium Ion Storage and advanced Electric Powertrains to be called as “ahead of time”.

Powering the Flow is a 2,100W electric motor which produces 66.4 lb-ft of peak torque at zero rpm. The Lithium-ion battery has enough juice to take the Flow for a maximum of 100 miles, provided you carry two such batteries on-board. That is interesting because the Flow can also run on a single battery pack for 50 miles while the second battery pack can be plugged in for a charge up back at home for you to swap them in a jiffy.

The AI is responsible for giving the rider with inputs that will minimize breakdowns and has what they call as “Intelligent Collision Detection and Alert”. How that works is out of my reach but Daaamn!. The AI will also order the spare parts automatically even before the failure occurs. Isn’t that smart?

VERDICT

The company is in its production phase and are simultaneously busy testing multiple prototypes of the S340 across various parameters to give customers the highest level of satisfaction. Ather plans to setup charging points across the city in Bangalore, Chennai, and Pune in their first leg. Charging points will also be installed at a customers’ residence after the purchase.

Since there are no much mechanical and moving parts to fail, you will not be hitting the service centers very often, and maintenance costs will be close to nil. The S340 is a compact and quiet vehicle that will give you surprising acceleration and 100% torque at zero rpm without any emissions.

The social pride you get because of the notion of responsibility from creating a better, healthier planet is immense, and with the increase of innovation and technology, the S340 will only get more exciting to drive. You can visit their website to express your pre-order interest. You can get in touch with the engineers and founders themselves to know more about the scooter and be prepared to feel elevated with the conscience that you are making a difference to the planet.