EVW reader Raghupathy took delivery of his Ather 450 electric scooter in July and since then asked himself how far could the 450’s 2.71 kWh battery be stretched. While he may not hold the record for the single longest journey on an Ather scooter, don’t be surprised if he goes on to get it!
Here’s what Raghupathy told us:
My Ather scooter was to be delivered in March, but it was stuck at the dealership in Chennai due to the lockdown. An Ather community member helped in taking the delivery and shipping it to Tirupur (near Coimbatore).
Some people have managed almost 135 km range on their Ather 450, and I was intrigued reading this on the web. So it was my wish to break this ‘record’ for a while now. During my daily rides, I got the consumption down to 18 Wh/km, and theoretically 133 km range for a full charge is possible if this can be maintained constantly.
I set out to see how far it can go on the highway. I started at my residence, which is a village near Tirupur and did this on a day when it was not windy or rainy. When I sensed the perfect weather conditions, I began riding with a 100% charge level on the scooter and just a mobile phone in my pocket. I wanted to save every gram as I weigh over 100 kg!
I hypermiled and rode as efficiently as one could. Some people may ask how I could ride a scooter 4 hours non-stop at 25-30 km/h. But my attention was spent on observing how other people were intrigued by my scooter’s design and the green registration plate (as this is the only Ather scooter in Tirupur) and some even asked me what this vehicle was. So the feeling of grabbing attention helped.
Once I crossed 50 km, I had consumed about 45% of the battery. At this point, decided it would be in my interest to turn back as it would be a risk if the scooter gave up in the dark. So I turned back after exactly 2 hrs and 2 mins of riding. I have to say that I did not feel fatigued at this point because the riding posture is relaxed, and the ergonomics are great.
While returning, I could sense the difference as the elevation was dropping and that helped bring down the Wh consumption by 2 points. When I reached home, I was surprised to find I had about 10% of the battery left and to finish it, I tried doing 3 km runs around my home. When the SOC was at 3%, I felt intense back pain as I had been on the road 4 hours at that point, and felt I had done enough.
Totally I had clocked 103 km with 2% charge remaining.