Hero MotoCorp-backed electric two-wheeler maker Ather Energy on Tuesday launched the third generation of its premium scooter 450X priced at Rs 1.39 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), targeting leadership in the segment by the end of this fiscal.
The company expects the Indian electric two-wheeler segment to cross sales of 1 lakh units a month by the end of the ongoing financial year and it is targeting to have over 30 per cent market share.
The ‘450X Gen 3’ is based on the third generation of Ather’s 450 platform. The first generation of the 450 platform was launched in 2018, followed by the second generation in 2020.
“We’re keeping the product branding the same. But internally, the engineering and the hardware, and the specs have changed considerably. The biggest change is the battery pack that is becoming almost 25 per cent larger, from 2.9 kilowatt hours to 3.7 kilowatt hours,” Ather Energy Co-Founder and CEO Tarun Mehta told PTI.
As a result, he said, the ARAI-certified range of the electric scooter has gone up to 146 km from 116 km earlier, while the true range, which customers would get in city conditions, has also gone up to almost 105 km from 85 km on a single charge.
A lot of customers, especially the first-time EV buyers, really wanted to cross the psychological barrier of 100 km, Mehta said, adding “that was one of the biggest feedbacks we got from all our owners over the last couple of years. So we built and developed this version sometime last year.”
Besides, the new 450X has better thermal performance of the battery pack, thereby supporting performance riding for longer duration of time, he said. The 450X Gen 3 also comes with wider rear tyres that offer better grip while leaning on turns and a shorter braking distance.
