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.