RJMS-EV, a private company that is into manufacturing of electric vehicle and components in Bengaluru has a patent in their name for their innovation in switching a typical auto that runs on gas to a solar-run auto rickshaw. The rickshaw was launched officially in Bengaluru on Saturday.
Electric Autorickshaws launched in Bengaluru
Ather Scooter Vs Gogoro – FIRST EVER SHOOTOUT… Even before Ather Scooter is out…
Ather Scooter Vs Gogoro Scooter…dho dala!
Most of Ather Energy Scooter’s specifications and Images are out except the Price. Even Ather Energy has not decided on the Price… yet… but we at PlugInCaroo take the liberty to guess that the scooter could be priced around Rs 95,000 (US$ 1,400) EXACTLY!!!
At this price we expect the 10,0000 Ather Scooter to be sold out within months of its release. Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai & Bangalore each can swallow 2,000 Electric Bikes within days of its release especially if there is online purchase and home delivery.
We at PlugInCaroo forecasts sales of Ather Energy to be around 200,000 in a year hoping they can ramp up to meet the demand. But after this figure if they are not able to provide charging facilities in between cities or extra batteries then the demand could infact drop. This is necessary as the scooters can never be just inside city devices but also intercity connectors.
Price: Gogoro Scooter is priced at US$ 3,000 At this price Gogoro Scooter is MORE THAN TWICE as expensive as Ather Scooter. This would be a major drawback for Gogoro. If Ather Energy ships to Taiwan then Gogoro might as well close down because it would make no sense to buy a Gogoro when you have a similar scooter for less than half the price.
Range: Ather scooter has a range of 60Kms while Gogoro has a range of 100kms. Although Gogoro might seem like a winner it is not necessarily so…because most people do not travel 100kms a day, and those who do travel beyond that have to seriously consider shifting to a CNG-Car because level of comfort and safety is better in a car and the CNG price and mileage of cars makes the expense similar.
Top Speed: Ather scooter has a top speed of 72Kmph while Gogoro has a top speed of 95kmph.. a difference of 23kmph. But in City traffic its not very much possible… to reach 95kmph on a steady basis. Thus this too has only a limited advantage to Gogoro.
Battery: Ather has mentioned that they will have “swapable” battery meaning they could have battery that than can be swapped so as to double its range. This COULD POSSIBLY BE carried home by the user, not only making the bike safer from being stolen but also enabling the user to charge the battery at home. (At this point Ather has not specifically mentioned that users can carry the battery home to recharge). This one aspect would give the scooter ENORMOUS advantage OVER Gogoro Scooter which no user can recharge at home and basically it would be useless carrying home 2 battery packs when it cannot be recharged thus Gogoro has lost he biggest advantage of Li-Ion battery which is the battery is 3 times lighter than Lead Acid batteries and can be carried home to be recharged.
Seating Capacity: Ather has specifically designed the bike to be a 2 person bike with enough room and space to take in a kid as the 3rd passenger. While Gogoro has been designed as a single person scooter and the extra passenger can be managed… but it is more so as an after thought.
Ather Scooter Dashboard vs Gogoro Scooter Dashboard
Dashboard: Although the Gogoro dashboard is interesting and better than all existing scooter dashboards the Ather Dashboard is much better than Gogoro not only integrating street-maps and GPS but also in its look, feel and layout.
No Dealership: Ather Energy has done a major breakthrough by not going in for “Dealership Distribution” method as is the way the motor industry works. The biggest irritant about dealership is they keep requesting for “servicing the EV” (to coerce some money from the customer) even though the EV doesn’t need it. With the direct relationship with the customers will enable Ather a great deal, especially in the early days, to get customer feedback and to update and improve their product. The customers will also be more at ease dealing directly with the company as most of the time the dealership staff and owners do not like to deal with the problems of the customers.
Re-Charge: The users of Gogoro have no say or role in charging their scooters. Not only that but they have to go to a booth either near or far from their residence or work place to change their battery just like one used to do with a cooking gas cylinder years ago. But with Ather the user can decide when, where and how to charge the vehicle.
Design: The Gogoro Bike has stuck to the traditional scooter design while Ather guys have designed their bike to look meaner and aggressive and is a cross between a motorcycle and a scooter especially the forked shockabs on front, mono-shock swing-arm on the rear, exposed skeleton under the seat and aggressive tyre-treads. Look-wise the Ather Scooter scores over the Gogoro. The only place Gogoro scores over the Ather is the LED animation when the vehicle starts and the compact Gogoro battery design. In all other deaprtments Ather beats Gogoro fair and square.
Freebies & Updates: And if the Ather Energy team can give quicker charging or better maps or increase the range of batteries over free online updates or even free customer center updates the customers are going to be flattered and going to be an Ather Fan for Life. Ather guys could possibly send emails directly to the vehicle or direct the vehicle to the nearest Repair/Service centre to replace brake pads, battery or tyre replacement or some random technical work based on of where the vehicle currently is. This is a distinct possiblity.
Market: The size of the local Indian Market for Ather is mind boggling and is its biggest advantage. While Gogoro will always struggle for a market not only in Taiwan but also in the world because of its crazy battery-recharge-strategy… for Ather setting up shop anywhere in the world would be a breeze. If the company does sales of 200,000 in its 1st year it should go public in its next year… the company has immense potential especially since they are interested to get into bigger vehicles. With the BRICS loan to India focusing on Solar Energy Ather could play a VERY big role in “…lighting up your neighborhood” with charging stations.
The final verdict is that Ather Scooter scores high over the Gogoro Scooter not only in looks and price but also in convenience of use.
Spolar paneled roof on electric vehicles are very much possible and it is not a new concept AT ALL. In fact it has been successfully experimented by many people over the years for 2 wheelers, 3 wheelers, trikes, one Indian guy went to UK to travel there by Solar powered auto-rickshaw developed here in India, Solar Ahmed drives around in his electric car which is powered by solar panels on his vehicle roof.
Also most mainstream motor companies have ALSO not released ANY electric vehicles other than Mahindra. The following links are for the peoples who have tried out Solar panels on their vehicle roof successfully:…
(there are a lot more available on youtube) and THERE IS NO DRAWBACK OF LEAD ACID BATTERIES as suggested by some manufacturers as you can see Solar Ahmed has driven his car with Lead Acid Batteries for over 100,000 kms and at the same time SOLAR AHMED WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO AFFORD Li-Ion BATTERY to drive so far a distance and replace batteries. IN THAT ASPECT Li-Ion BATTERY HAS A MAJOR DISADVANTAGE:
Ather @ Surge – 2 days to Go – 23rd Feb 14:30 Will you be there?
If one flies over the desert of Abu Dhabi, out of nowhere there appears a huge, geometrical shaped complex with many buildings.
The city was supposed to be a model for high-tech, carbon-neutral cities powered off green energy, but instead the city has become a ghost town.
Masdar City – the US $ 22 billion project was started in 2006 and was supposed to be completed in 8 yrs (by 2014). The plan was to use solar energy for 70% of the power generation of the city. Today the project has already been… Continue reading
Terra Motors, a leading manufacturer of electric two and three wheelers in Japan, on Thursday launched Y4-Alfa e-rickshaw in India.
Y4-Alfa has been priced close to Rs 1.3 lakh and… Continue reading
During the Odd and Even formula tried out by AAP in Delhi not many electric vehicle companies were able to utilize the opportunity to show case their vehicles but Hero Electric company was able to use the wind under its wings and fly high.
Hero Electric was able to visualize the commuter’s problem and the opportunity it presented for the company to familiarize the vehicle with the common people was seized with both hands. This can be considered one of the best marketing campaigns carried out in the last few decade in India.
What Hero Electric did was this:
Hero Electric deployed around 100 E-bikes in 15 strategic locations in Delhi and gave free rides to commuters Delhi during the “Odd-Even Drive”. Not only did they invest equipment but they employed “staff/volunteers” to drive the scooters.
This initiative, christened ‘Free and Clean Ride‘ by Hero Electric, was aimed at raising awareness about E-Mobility and mitigating bad air quality in Delhi. The initiative was flagged off by Mr. Satyendra Kumar Jain, Minister of Health and Industry, Delhi and Mr. Sohinder Gill, CEO Hero Electric today from the Delhi Secretariat.
Each location had 5-10 E-bikes with a rider who helped each commuters reach last mile destinations from public places such as metro stations or a busy bus terminal for no charge. The E-bikes were stationed at these locations during the rush hour i.e. 8 AM – 12 PM & 4 PM to 8PM and the riders wore distinctive uniforms, so the commuters could easily identify them. Some of the key locations were metro exit points in Connaught Place, Kendriya Terminal, Jawaharlal Nehru Metro Station, Anand Vihar, Preet Vihar, Rohini etc
The whole idea was to help office goers and general commuters to experience the joy & comfort of zero polluting Electric bikes and also get to learn the advantages of switching over to Electric Mobility.
Since this plan worked and as there was sufficient demand for its services, one can expect the company to deploy a bigger fleet size next time.According to the company’s official statement, two wheelers are contributing the maximum to air pollution in Delhi & E bikes are a visible alternative to immediately cut the emission, considering the fact that 1 electric bike reduces 1 tonnes of CO2 in 3 years, also quite a lot of money and absolutely no maintenance or service.
An electric bike is like… buy it, charge it, forget it… no headache!
ELECRAMA-2016 from 13 to 17 Feb 2016
Location: Bengaluru International Exhibition Centre
10th Mile, Tumkur Road, Madavara
Post, Dasanapura Hobli, Bengaluru, Kamataka 562123, India.
Hall: 1A, Stall: HA46
The government has laid emphasis on quality products from electronics and electrical sector, said Piyush Goyal, Minister of State with Independent Charge for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy.
“Any company found selling substandard products will… Continue reading
With Delhi pollution control discussion in the background the Auto Expo 2016 at Delhi happened at a very opportune moment as far as Electric Vehicles were concerned. It was the right moment when the people were aware of the effects of pollution and how badly Delhi is affected by it.
Diesel car manufacturing companies complain that their car takes in polluted air and leave out cleaner exhaust doesn’t hold much water as after a few years with age and neglected maintenance diesel vehicles will give out more harmful exhaust than petrol. The fact is Diesel is as thick as Crude Oil and is always going to be a dangerous fuel for the lungs.
Auto Rickshaws have moved on to CNG and Electric Rickshaws in Delhi and the next bunch of vehicles to be converted would be the school buses, mini-buses and the regular Buses and then finally the Trucks.
The enlightened Delhi saw more than six lakh footfalls at the Expo.
The best part was that this was one of the AutoExpo having the record number of Electric Vehicles on Display in India. It had everything from scooters, sports bike, auto rickshaws, cars, sports cars, mini-vans and bus… it had the complete package.
It could have had more vehicles like electric Trikes, Electric ATVs, Quads/buggies & Electric Tractors. But what makes the Expo all the more exciting is the promise of what could come next year because it was just late 2015 that the Paris Pledge was taken to do away with Petrol and Diesel as fuel and to retain CNG and Electric as the fuel of the future.
Auto Expo 2017 will surely have more electric vehicles like Ather Energy, and Hero Motorcorp. The 110cc Navi bike from its look it is evident that it is purely designed with battery in the mind as the source of fuel.
But the biggest hope is that there will be at least a few startup companies that will out smart existing Vehicle makers like Tata and Mahindra and have better vehicles on display… and there is a very good chance of this happening.
At stall no N-10 in Hall no. 12 at the Auto Expo 2016 Dancing girls come out before JBM unveils the electric bus EcoLife.
Executive Director JBM Nishant Arya says that the 100 per cent electric bus will revolutionise intra-city transportation.The company touted the new release as India’s first bus running on a hundred per cent electric power. The release comes amidst nationwide rising concerns… Continue reading
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