Ather Energy, one of India’s electric scooter manufacturers, today launched its family scooter, the Rizta, at the second edition of the Ather Community Day in Bengaluru. Designed and engineered as a scooter for the entire family, the Rizta prioritizes comfort, convenience, and safety.
It comes with a host of new connected features to enhance the riding experience including features like SkidControlTM and WhatsApp on the dashboard. Competitively priced for the mass market, the Rizta starts at INR. 1,09,999 (Ex-showroom Bengaluru).
The all-new Rizta will have 2 models and three variants – Rizta S and Rizta Z with a 2.9 kWh battery and a top-end model Rizta Z with a 3.7 kWh. The 2.9 kWh variants will deliver a predicted IDC range of 123 kms and the 3.7 kWh variant will deliver 160 kms.
While Ather offers the Rizta S in 3 monotone colours, the Rizta Z will be available in 7 colours which include 3 monotone and 4 dual tone colours. Tarun Mehta, Co-Founder & CEO, Ather Energy, said, “We entered the two-wheeler market with our performance scooter, the 450 series, which was recognised in the industry.
Now, we are setting foot in the family segment with the Rizta, which has been designed and engineered with the Indian family in mind. It focuses on key aspects such as comfort, safety and connected tech, which we believe makes it an upgrade from the conventional scooters in the market. Rizta will reflect Ather’s proposition of quality, reliability, and safety.”
Comfort and convenience
Ather Rizta aims to prioritize comfort and convenience, featuring the largest seat in its segment ensuring ample space for its users and a large floor board. Furthermore, the Rizta Z features a backrest for enhanced comfort by providing lumbar support for the pillion.
With 56L storage space, including a 34L underseat capacity, and an optional 22L Frunk accessory, Ather believes Rizta offers a large storage space in the scooter market, making it easy to carry day-to-day essentials.
The underseat storage can also be fitted with an optional multi-purpose charger with an 18W power output, which can charge electronic devices such as phones, tablets, portable speakers and other similar devices.
Safety and ride handling
Over the years, Ather has been committed to improving the safety standard for two-wheeler riders by launching multiple features. With Rizta, Ather introduces the SkidControl™.
This is Ather’s proprietary traction control system that seamlessly controls motor torque to mitigate the loss of traction while accelerating on low friction surfaces such as patches of road with gravel, sand, water, or oil. [This has been enabled by the in-house developed motor control system, Ather Drive Controller™ (ADC™).
Additional safety features, such as FallSafeTM, Emergency Stop Signal (ESS), Theft & Tow Detect, and Find My Scooter which were previously seen on Ather’s 450 series of scooters, too are integrated into the Ather Rizta.
All three variants come with a top speed of 80 kmph and two riding modes – Zip and SmartEco. Moreover, ride assist features such as MagicTwistTM, AutoHoldTM, and Reverse Mode, which were integrated in the 450 series are also present in the Rizta.
The Rizta carries over the same philosophy as the 450 series including its low center of gravity, balanced weight distribution from front to rear, and equal balance on both sides, allowing precise control regardless of the rider's level of skills or prevalent riding conditions. The Rizta is easy to manoeuvre given its shorter 1286mm wheelbase.
HALO - Smart Helmet
Ather also announced its entry into the Smart Helmet category with the Ather HALO product line. Ather HALO is a full face, top of the line, integrated smart helmet. It will feature superlative audio by Harman Kardon.
It offers riders a seamless experience with its proprietary auto WearDetect technology, wireless charging, and allows them to control music & calls through the scooter's handlebar. HALO also comes with Ather ChitChatTM, which enables helmet to helmet communication between the rider and pillion. It has a clean and futuristic design and comes with two color options.
Ather has partnered with Harman Kardon to deliver the high quality audio, enhancing the ride experience. HALO has also been designed to add a layer of safety for the rider by allowing critical sounds, thus delivering an uninterrupted and safe listening experience.
Ather believes they have ensured seamless integration of the helmet with the scooter, which includes a specially developed wireless charging solution in Rizta’s boot. Halo’s wear detect technology allows the helmet to recognize when it’s worn, enabling a seamless 3 way pairing of the helmet, phone and scooter.
Ather believes all of this ensures an engaging, enjoyable and safe ride with Halo.In addition to this, Ather introduced HALO Bit, a module that can be attached to Ather’s Half face helmets. Ather has developed an ISI and DOT rated custom half face helmet, which will be available to all customers soon and will be compatible with HALO Bit, enabling every Ather helmet to be a smart helmet.
The introductory price of HALO is INR 12,999 and HALO Bit is INR 4,999. Swapnil Jain, Co-founder & CTO of Ather Energy said,”We wanted to transform helmets from a mere compulsion to an integral part of a fun, engaging ride.
So we built the HALO, our first smart helmet which offers premium sound by Harmon Kardon and integrates our proprietary auto WearDetect technology and wireless charging. With HALO we made sure that the experience extends to the pillion with features such as ChitChatTM and music sharing. “
AtherStack 6.0
Ather also rolled out AtherStack 6.0, the latest upgrade to its software stack. AtherStack powers all the experiences on Ather Scooters It is built on various interconnected layers of software, firmware, system algorithms.
The latest update brings a host of new features and experiences to the scooters including a new mobile app, integration with Whatsapp on the Ather dashboard, live location sharing, ping my scooter, auto reply to calls and Alexa integration. Existing Ather owners will also get AtherStack 6.0 as an over the air update with some of these features.
“AtherStack has been an integral part of our product strategy since the launch of our first scooter, allowing us to constantly enhance our product experience. With new features like Whatsapp on the dashboard, live location sharing and voice commands, we believe Ather Stack 6.0 will bring an important upgrade to rider safety, convenience and connectivity.
Optimising the touchscreen dashboard and revamping the mobile app will offer a seamless ownership experience to both Rizta and Ather 450 customers” added Swapnil Jain, Co-founder & CTO of Ather Energy.
With WhatsApp on the dashboard, the rider can now read their most recent messages on the dashboard when the scooter is at a standstill, essentially eliminating the hassle of checking their phones during their ride.
The new ‘Ping my scooter feature’ gives Ather owners the ability to find their scooter amidst a sea of other two-wheelers with the help of loud audio and visual cues, which can be activated with the tap of a button on the new Ather App.
Another new feature in AtherStack 6.0 is the integration of Alexa Smart Assistant, which comes with over 50 prompts available in both English and Hindi. Riders can access information like the current charge status, last parked location, trip feasibility, push navigation and more with just a voice command.
Live location sharing is another new safety feature that allows a rider to share their location while on the move, to a preset contact.The all-new mobile app brings a more personalised and seamless experience to Ather customers.
Along with a new interface, the app brings a new feature named WidgetX, that provides the user with contextual information on the home screen. The app also provides detailed insights into their ride history, savings due to switching to EV and commemorates various milestones.
All three variants come with Ather’s 5 year optional warranty program, ‘Ather Battery Protect’, that extends battery warranty to 5 years/60,000 kms.This warranty program not only covers battery failures but also guarantees a minimum of 70% state-of-health for the battery at the end of 5 years.
For home charging, the Rizta S and Rizta Z with a 2.9kWh battery come with a 350W Ather portable charger and the top end Rizta Z with 3.7 kWh battery comes with a 700W new Ather Duo charger. Rizta owners will also have access to Ather’s comprehensive fast-charging network, with 1800+ fast charging points.
Bookings are now open for the Ather Rizta, and deliveries will commence starting June 2024. The Ather Rizta S with 2.9 kWh will be priced at INR 1,09,999 lakh (ex-showroom Bengaluru). The Ather Rizta Z with 2.9 kWh and Rizta with 3.7 kWh will be available at INR 124,999 and INR 144,999 ex-showroom Bengaluru.