Ather Rizta Launched In India; Starts At ₹1.10 Lakh

After much anticipation, Ather has finally taken the wraps off it’s first family electric scooter, the Rizta. Priced from ₹1.10 lakh onwards, the Ather Rizta will be available in two trim levels - S and Z - and three variants. The S being the entry-level model gets the smaller 2.9 kWh (Certified range - 123 km) battery and is priced at ₹1.10 lakh. The Ather Rizta Z with the 2.9 kWh battery is priced at ₹1.25 lakh and with the 3.7 kWh (Certified range - 160 km) battery pack it will set you back by ₹1.50 lakh. Bookings for the Ather Rizta had already commenced across India earlier for a token amount of ₹999. 

What Is The Ather Rizta?

The Ather Rizta might be a brand-new product, but it is built on the brand’s tried and tested architecture that also underpins the Ather 450 scooters.  However, with a different body style and with a much more practical approach, the Rizta has been designed to cater to the “Big Indian Family.” How has the brand achieved that, we discuss them below. 

Ather Rizta: Features

Keeping it simple, the Ather Rizta is available with two drive modes - Zip and Smart Eco. The former gets you all the excitement when it comes to hard acceleration and quicker speeds, the latter is much more subdued and calmer.

Ather has also equipped the Rizta with its Magic Twist regen braking feature that debuted with the Ather 450 Apex earlier this year. The feature works by twisting the throttle in the opposite direction and recharging the battery while slowing the vehicle up to a standstill. The Rizta has also debuted a new RideEasy feature that makes riding the Rizta easier in snail-paced low-speed situations is Ather’s new RideEasy.

It also gets the 7-inch DeepView display available with the Ather 450 scooters, but the UI has been altered slightly. The display supports Google Maps, Traffic layer, auto reply to calls, push location, and WhatsApp preview functionalities. Details of which you can learn more about the AtherStack6 and HALO launch.

Ather Rizta: Performance And Charging Time

Paired to the batteries is a 4.3 kW electric motor that produces 22 Nm of peak torque at the wheel. Ather claims that the Rizta can accelerate from 0-40 kmph in 4.7 seconds, and reach a top speed 80 kmph (standard across all Rizta variants). 

The Ather Rizta S and Z with the 2.9 kWh battery are available with a 350W portable home charger that takes 6 hours and 40 mins to charge the battery fully. The top-end Ather Rizta with 3.7 kWh battery is available with a 700W new Ather Duo charger that takes 4 hours and 30 mins to fully charge the battery. 

Ather Rizta: Safety

For extra safety, Ather has introduced a new Skid Control (traction control ) feature which equips sensors to the front wheel and works in tandem with the Ather Drive Control which in turn keeps the speed of the front and rear wheel at the same speeds at all times. Along with that, ESS and Fall Safe, AutoHold, Find My Scooter, etc will also be available with the Rizta as standard. 

Ather Rizta: Practicality

Ather has been bullish about the Rizta’s seat since day 1. The wide and long 900 mm seat is available in both premium and standard spec with the Rizta. Underneath this new spacious seat is a large 34-litre underseat storage space, coupled with a spacious 22-litre frunk, the Ather Rizta has 56-litre of onboard storage capacity. 

 “With great storage comes great accessories,” as was famously put by Tarun Mehta at the event. The under-seat bootspace will be available with several accessories. For starters there’s an 18W power output that can be used to charge all kinds of devices from, mobile phones to Macbook Air and even a mini fridge. 

Given the amount of space available with the Rizta, Ather is offering an organiser pack that gets you additional storage capacity in the same 34-liter boot space. Moreover, this organiser can also double up as a carry bag, which is also a genuine and clever design.

The Ather Rizta will compete against the Ola S1 Air, TVS iQube, Bajaj Chetak and Hero Vida V1. Given the number of updates and segment-leading features it packs in, Ather has a winner. The question is how will the market take to it?