Ather 450X vs Ola S1 vs Simple One – The Best of New-Age Indian Electric Scooters Compared

While there have been many electric scooters in the last ten years, the arrival of Ather in the Indian market was the first big revolution. With a futuristic essence in its design and powertrain, the Ather became the flag bearer of the forthcoming big change in the electric scooter space. Ather has levelled up in the game ever since then, with the current Ather 450X being the best of what the Indian start-up has to offer. Speaking of Indian start-ups, the arrival of two new home-grown scooters – Ola S1 and Simple One – has made the competition in the electric scooter segment even fiercer. Here’s a complete comparison between the three scooters, to find out which one feels the best for the money it asks:

Price

Among all the three scooters, the Ola S1 comes out as the most affordable scooter out of the three, with the least asking starting price. The Ola S1 lineup goes all the way up to Rs 1.30 lakh, which makes it more expensive than the Simple One, but still more affordable than the Ather 450X, the top-spec variant of which is the most expensive of the three.

(All prices Ex-showroom, Delhi)

(All prices mentioned above are ex-showroom, pan India)

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Engine and Performance

Ather might have started the game of betterment in the electric scooter space, but it seems that it is now lagging behind in the race. Both the newer scooters, Ola S1 and Simple One, have more promising specs bot boast of. While the Ola S1 comes with the most powerful electric motor out of the three, the least powerful motor of the Simple One offers the most amount of torque.

In addition, the Simple One also features the most powerful battery, which not only takes the least amount to get fully charged but also offers the maximum amount of claimed riding range on a full charge. Also, the Simple One takes the least amount of time to speed up from standstill to 40 kmph mark. However, the Pro variant of the Ola S1 takes the cake of being the scooter with the maximum top speed.

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Dimension

One look at the Ather 450X in comparison to the other two is enough to make you realize that it is the smallest scooter of the three. While the Ola S1 is the longest and offers the maximum wheelbase, the Simple One is the widest and tallest among all the three scooters. While the Ola S1 might be the shortest scooter here, it has the tallest seat height among all. Also, the kerb weight of the Ola S1 is also the most here, which makes it heavier even than most of the conventional 110-125cc scooters out there.

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Design and Features

All the three scooters have very distinctive designs, which not only make them look completely different from each other, but also from the current crop of petrol-driven 100-150cc scooters. While the Ola S1 has a more rounded design, the Ather 450X and Simple One have rather pointier and aggressive looking designs, which make them look more futuristic.

Given that these three are scooters that are future-ready, all of them are equipped with fancy and modern elements like an LED headlamp, turn indicators and tail lamp and super-cool looking touchscreen instrument consoles with in-built navigation and Bluetooth support for music streaming and call and SMS alerts. However, when compared, the instrument console of the Ola S1 looks funkier and more informative, with multiple display modes and cooler graphics on offer. All the scooters here are armed with alloy wheels, big under-seat storage compartments, riding modes and a front disc brake.

In addition to these features, all the three scooters here are available with their dedicated smartphone application, which can be used for monitoring the performance and health status of the vehicle and other basic telematics systems. Only the Simple One offers you the option of a removable battery.

Verdict

All the three scooters are targeted towards the buyers across all the age groups, with the younger generation ones more who value modern design elements and features the most. In the first impression, it might feel that the Ola S1 has hogged a lot of limelight, however, the Ather 450X and Simple One are not too far behind. A closer inspection and comparison further folds a clearer picture, though.

Out of all the three, it is clear that the Ather 450X now feels the most ‘primitive’ in comparison, and the highest asking price of it might end its monopoly in the electric scooter space. While it continues to be a great scooter, the other two have simply raised the bars higher by offering more potent powertrains and more features. Clearly, it is not a value-for-money option anymore.

Out of the Ola S1 and Simple One, it is the latter that appeals as a better option. The Simple One has an electric motor with the most amount of torque, has the biggest battery pack which offers the maximum range of the three, has features more or less similar to the Ola S1 and is priced much lower than the higher-spec Ola S1 Pro which is actually a more direct competitor to it. While the Ola S1 might be the most popular of the three for the moment, the Simple One with its better attributes is an option worth looking for.

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