Ather Energy, one of India’s leading electric scooter manufacturers, launched its family scooter, the Rizta, at the second edition of Ather Community Day in Bengaluru. The Rizta is designed and engineered to cater to the entire family, prioritizing comfort, convenience, and safety.
While posing as the perfect scooter for your family, the Rizta also busts a ton of EV myths:
Myth 1: EV scooters lack comfort
The all-new Rizta features one of the largest seats in its segment, allowing ample space for users. It is large enough to fit two adults and a huge backpack easily. The upright riding stance makes it comfortable for city riding conditions. The suspension is also tuned to offer a plush ride, enhancing the comfort for the rider. It runs over bumps smoothly, ensuring they don’t send jolts through your back and the comfortable seat also facilitates great posture.
The Rizta has a large floorboard, which gives sufficient leg space. Additionally, the Rizta Z includes a backrest that provides lumbar support for the pillion rider. This makes the Rizta one of the most comfortable options in the market currently.
Myth 2: EV scooters are less convenient than ICE scooters
Engineered to prioritize convenience, the Rizta has 56L of storage space, including a 34L underseat capacity and an optional 22L Frunk accessory. The underseat storage is large enough to easily accommodate a full face helmet and still have some space left. It also comes with a storage organiser that perfectly fits in the boot and has what is called the “Joey Pocket”, to store things like your keys, your phone or a cleaning cloth for your scooter. It offers significant storage, making it convenient to carry day-to-day essentials. The underseat storage can be fitted with an optional multi-purpose charger with an 18W power output, capable of charging electronic devices such as phones, tablets, and portable speakers.
Other features that augment convenience are MagicTwistTM, AutoHoldTM, Reverse Mode and navigation through Google Maps on the scooter dashboard. The MagicTwist™ feature allows the rider to control the speed through the throttle- twist to accelerate, twist in the reverse direction to modulate deceleration at all charge levels. The AutoHoldTM feature holds the scooter for you when you’re on a slope and reverse mode allows you to easily reverse the scooter without having to manually push it back. Navigation has also been made easy with two-wheeler specific routes in partnership with Google Maps, improved live traffic updates and better GPS latching.
Myth 3: EV scooters aren’t safe
Ather Energy has consistently prioritized safety for two-wheeler riders, incorporating multiple safety features into its products. With the Rizta, Ather introduced SkidControl™, a proprietary traction control system that manages motor torque to prevent loss of traction on low-friction surfaces like gravel, sand, water, or oil. This system is powered by the in-house developed Ather Drive Controller™ (ADC™).
Other safety features include FallSafe™, Emergency Stop Signal (ESS) and Theft & Tow Detect, all of which were previously seen in Ather’s 450 series of scooters. The FallSafeTM feature cuts off the power supply to the motor in case the scooter falls. ESS activates tail light blinking to prevent collisions by alerting people around in case of sudden braking by the rider and Theft & Tow Detect sends alerts via the app to let you know in case of a potential theft or tow situation.
Ather’s battery pack is also IP67 rated and prevents water damage. Moreover, all three variants of the Rizta come with Ather’s 5-year optional warranty program, ‘Ather Battery Protect, which not only covers battery failures but also guarantees a minimum of 70% state-of-health for the battery at the end of 5 years.
Myth 4: EV scooters don’t have enough range and performance
An IDC range of 123 km for the 2.9 kWh battery variants and that of 159 km for the 3.7 kWh variant of the Rizta is perfect for your daily commute. In case you run out of charge, given the extensive network of charging infrastructure across the country, you can top up your vehicle’s charging along your journey. With a top speed of 80 km/h and two riding modes – Zip and SmartEco, the Rizta variants are convenient for city commuting.
Ride assist features such as MagicTwist™, AutoHold™, and Reverse Mode, which have been mentioned before are integrated into the Rizta as well. Put together, these features also strengthen the performance of the scooter.
The Rizta maintains the same philosophy as the 450 series, including a low center of gravity, balanced weight distribution, and equal balance on both sides, enabling precise control regardless of the rider’s skill level or riding conditions. Its shorter 1285mm wheelbase makes the Rizta easy to maneuver.
Myth 5: EV scooters aren’t technologically advanced
Ather also introduced AtherStack 6.0, the latest upgrade to its software stack. AtherStack powers all experiences on Ather Scooters, built on various interconnected layers of software, firmware, and system algorithms. The latest update includes new features such as a new mobile app, WhatsApp integration on the dashboard, live location sharing, ‘Ping My Scooter’, auto-reply to calls, and Alexa integration. With WhatsApp on the dashboard, riders can read their most recent messages when the scooter is at a standstill, eliminating the need to check phones while riding. The ‘Ping my scooter’ feature helps owners locate their scooter among other two-wheelers using loud audio and visual cues activated through the new Ather App. Alexa Smart Assistant integration provides over 50 prompts in both English and Hindi, enabling riders to access information like current charge status, last parked location, trip feasibility, push navigation, and more through voice commands. In addition to this, live location sharing allows riders to share their location with a pre-set contact while on the move.
Existing Ather owners will receive AtherStack 6.0 as an Over-The-Air update with many of these features. Over-the-air updates allow your scooter to be upgraded via a software update on the go.
The new mobile app also offers a more personalized and seamless experience, featuring a new interface and WidgetX, which provides contextual information on the home screen. The app also offers detailed ride history insights, savings due to switching to EV, and commemorates various milestones. These features enhance the safety, convenience and the overall ride experience for the rider.
Overall, the Ather Rizta busts a bunch of these EV myths, and has established itself as the perfect scooter for family, that truly ensures safety, comfort and convenience.
