Ather Rizta first ride review: The ideal e-scooter for the family?
- We decided to play the family man for some time with the Ather Rizta electric scooter to find out if you should consider it to be a part of your home.
Check Offers The family scooter buyer is one of the hardest segments to crack in the Indian market. This buyer is tough to please, is averse to a lot of change and needs to have familiarity, ease of riding and compatibility with every member of the family - from the youngest to the oldest. When Ather Energy said it is working on a family scooter, expectations have been sky high. What you want is the niceness of the 450 Series with a whole lot of practicality and that’s what the new Ather Rizta promises. Can the new Rizta deliver on the practicality quotient and still be as exciting to ride? We decided to play “The Family Man" for a day with Ather’s newest scooter to find out.
Watch: Ather Rizta review: Perfect electric scooter for the family man?
Ather Rizta: What’s New
The Rizta is Ather Energy’s idea of a family scooter. The do-it-all companion in your home. It is a sibling to the 450 Series sharing the same mainframe with a revised subframe. The revised subframe lowers the rear seat height making it more accessible for the rider and pillion. It has also helped liberate more room under the seat on the scooter.
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3.7 kWh
160 km
82 kmph
The design then is conservative and meant to appeal to all. Simpler lines, flat LED lighting and flatter side panels are all intended to look long-lasting over attractive. They do bring a healthy dose of familiarity though. In fact, the Rizta can feel so familiar at times that you are likely to confuse it with another electric scooter in the same space. We think a little more styling flair wouldn’t have hurt the Rizta’s prospects.
But the scooter manages an imposing stance with its large proportions. It is the same length as the Honda Activa 125 but with a wider track. The wheelbase is longer than the Activa 125 but shorter than most electric scooters making it a compact package overall. It rides on 12-inch alloy wheels with low-resistance tyres. The overall quality levels are quite high with the paint finish, plastics, and switchgear, all feeling quite sturdy.
Ather Rizta: Practical Enough?
Practicality is the Rizta’s virtue and everything feels well thought out. The under-seat storage at 34 litres can fit a full-size helmet with some space to spare. Ather will also sell you a storage bag as an accessory that can be placed in the boot and you carry it home with the knick-knacks already tucked in. Neat, I say!
Then there are multiple hooks and a frunk that brings an additional 22 litres of storage around the apron. The flat floorboard is large enough to carry a gas cylinder, should you ever have to do that.
Ather Rizta: Tech-Friendly?
Ather is known for its tech-friendliness and the Rizta doesn’t disappoint. The 7-inch touchscreen unit has made way for a non-touch dashboard. Ather says it did not want to intimidate the family buyer with a touchscreen, which would also explain its simpler UI over the 450X. The non-touch dashboard should be more cost-effective as well.
The screen is readable under different lighting and easy to operate using the joystick. Features like WhatsApp Notifications and Live Location Tracking are a big welcome and game-changing with Atherstack 6. As good as it is to use, we faced heating concerns with the dashboard on our test unit, which would freeze for extended periods. Ather says that this issue will be rectified on the production models.
Ather Rizta: Performance
The Rizta gets the same powertrain as the 450S with power coming from the PMS motor tuned for 4.3 kW (5.7 bhp) and 22 Nm of peak torque. Unlike the 450 Series which is supposed to be more performance-oriented, this one is a lot linear. Power climbs, but not as quickly as the 450S. It's less urgent and a lot more relaxed. Riding the Rizta is not intimidating and will appeal to a wide variety of riders in the family.
It is also 11 kg heavier than the 450S and power takes some time to climb. The e-scooter will reach up to 60-80 kmph with ease but in a much calmer fashion. The electric motor is less audible and there is a certain calmness to the Rizta's riding experience. Throttle input is crisp and Ather certainly does it the best in the business. Power flows seamlessly and there’s little to complain about the experience of riding the scooter.
There are two riding modes - SmartEco and Zip. The former tops out at 60 kmph and is intended to maximise range, while the Zip brings some funk to the power delivery, neither of them is exciting. The overall performance is just on par with what you would expect from an e-scooter this size. We do think a little more excitement around the top-end would've been nice, something possibly a third riding mode could solve, especially for overtakes, slotted between SmartEco and Zip.
Ather Rizta: Range
Claimed Range: 123 km (2.9 kWh), 159 (3.7 kWh)
True Range: 100 km (2.9 kWh), 125 km (3.7 kWh)
The company claims a range of 123 km on the 2.9 kWh variant, while the bigger 3.7 kWh variant promises 159 km on a single charge… The True Range is more humbling, however, at 100 km and 125 km respectively. Ather says that’s what most buyers truly need in between charges. The battery pack comes from the 450 Series and we’ve largely had a good experience when it comes to range accuracy from the system. That said, open the throttle for extended periods and the battery will drain quickly.
There is fast charging on the Rizta which is missing on several of its rivals. A 15 km top-up will take 10 minutes. But a portable charger will charge the scooter from 0 to 80 per cent charge will take nearly 6 hours, while 0 to 100 per cent takes about 8.5 hours.
Ather Rizta: Magic Twist and Safety Tech
The Magic Twist feature makes it to the Rizta from the 450 Apex. It brings negative throttle up to 15 degrees for regenerative braking. That means less load on the brakes with better speed modulation and a small boost in range. The Magic Twist sheds speeds faster on the Rizta than it does on the Apex. Unlike the Apex where the power surge is quicker and therefore needs more effort to control, the Rizta’s linear delivery allows for faster braking. Do note that Magic Twist does not replace conventional braking. It rather helps modulate speeds effortlessly, especially when riding in the city.
The braking setup itself is good with a strong bite from the front disc. The rear does a good job with the drum brakes keeping you in control. Speaking of control, the Ather Rizta gets traction control, a first for any mass-market scooter in India. The feature modulates the speed of the rear wheel based on the speed of the front wheel and will come in handy on rough terrains and wet roads.
The safety net extends further with features like Auto Hold that automatically engages and stays active for extended periods. You also get Fall Safe, Emergency Stop Signal, which is another segment-first feature, Reverse Park Assist, and Theft protection, most of which we’ve seen on the 450 Series as well.
Ather Rizta: Prices and Verdict
The Rizta emerges as a well-packaged and thoughtful scooter designed for everyone in the family. Priced from ₹1.10 lakh, going up to ₹1.45 lakh (ex-showroom, Bengaluru). The fancier features including Google Maps navigation, Magic Twist, SkidControl and more come only with the Pro Pack which commands an extra ₹15,000-20,000 over the standard prices.
The Rizta is priced at a premium over conventional family scooters in the business. However, when you compare it to other similar electric scooters, the pricing may not seem all that out of place. The Athe Rizta will primarily lock horns against the TVS iQube, Ola S1 Pro, Bajaj Chetak and the like in the segment.
The Ather Rizta is a well-packaged and thoughtful scooter keeping the family buyer at its centre. While a competitive price would’ve made it take on the Honda Activa, this might not be for the Activa buyer after all. The Rizta buyer is probably looking for a more refined experience from their scooter ownership and the Ather e-scooter offers it in spades, albeit at quite a premium.
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