Pay Win

THE ATHER RIZTA WAS LAUNCHED TO much fanfare in April this year and then we got to sample it for a short burst in May.

While it was impressive going by our first impression, this time we had the opportunity to find out if our initial experience with the scooter would corroborate our scrutiny over an extended period. We had the scooter with us for a week, so we used it thoroughly. Here is what it was like.

We picked up the Ather Rizta with about 36 per cent SOC, which would have been a cause for concern under most circumstances, but when I plugged in the location of the office, the app happily informed me that I had enough charge for the ride.

Then it was a simple matter of pushing the location from the app to the scooter itself and I was ready to navigate, with detailed maps courtesy of Google. Before I started, though, I went into the settings to make sure that some of the more useful features of Atherstack 6.0 were enabled, such as Magic Twist, Skid Control, auto brightness adjustment for the dashboard, auto-cancelling turn signals, and hill hold.

I started in the SmartEco ride mode to maximize the distance on the remaining charge. Unlike most other eco modes in various electric scooters, the Ather SmartEco ride mode doesn't cap the top speed at a pre-set value; instead, it optimizes the battery drain.

I even managed to hit 55 km/h in the SmartEco mode and if the battery had more than 80 per cent charge, the acceleration was brisk even in this mode. However, once you switch to the Zip mode, you'll only return to SmartEco when necessary. The Zip mode unleashes the full potential of the motor, which amounts to 4.3 kW (5.8 hp), but, more importantly, 22 Nm of torque is available from one rpm. You reach 60 km/h before almost everything on the road, which enables you to shock people on much more powerful machinery. Claimed top speed is 80 km/h, but I managed to hit an indicated 81 km/h on the highway.