Categories: Automobile

Ather scooters get new battery packs, LFP cells on Rizta

Ather Energy has implemented a small but crucial change to the battery capacity of both the 450 and Rizta and has also debuted an entirely new battery chemistry on the Rizta.

Rizta now comes with both LFP and NMC chemistries; 450 only gets NMC
Smaller battery packs, but no drop in range
Warranty and performance remain unaffected, as do prices

Let’s first start with the Rizta because this model has seen a change to both its battery capacity as well as chemistry. Earlier, the Rizta used to ship with 2.9kWh and 3.7kWh NMC (Nickel Manganese Cobalt) battery packs. Now, Ather has revised the size of the packs to 2.7kWh and and 3.5kWh, respectively. The claimed IDC range of 123km for the smaller pack stays the same, but the bigger one sees a small increment, rising from a claimed 159km to 161km. This is very heartening to see, as despite using fewer cells in the pack, Ather is able to eke out a little more range, which is a win-win situation for both the company as well as the consumer.

Another change, and this one is far more significant, Ather now also uses LFP (Lithium Ferrous Phosphate) chemistry battery packs on the Rizta’s smaller battery variants. In most cases, LFP packs usually have lower energy density than equivalent NMC ones, but Ather actually claims a small improvement in range despite using a smaller battery pack of the lower energy dense chemistry. A look at the table below will highlight the difference more clearly.

Model	Old battery / IDC range	New Battery / IDC range
Rizta	2.9kWh / 123km	2.7kWh (LFP) / 123km & 2.9kWh (NMC) / 123km
Rizta	3.7kWh / 159km	3.5kWh (NMC) / 161km

An important thing to bear in mind is that the claimed performance, charging times and more importantly, battery warranty across all Ather e-scooters remain the same, no matter the size or chemistry of the battery pack powering it.

Another point to note is that Ather will continue to use NMC cells on the Rizta as well, so some scooters will come with LFP cells while others will be NMC. Customers won’t be able to opt for one or the other, and which pack will be used will be based on supply.

Coming to the sporty 450 models, these continue to be offered exclusively with the relatively more energy-dense NMC batteries and this is primarily because their more powerful motor puts greater demands on the battery to deliver peak performance. While the battery capacity on the 450 models has dropped from 3.7kWh to 3.5kWh, IDC range stays unaffected at 161km. The smaller battery pack continues to have a capacity of 2.9kWh and its 126km (450X) / 122km (450S) IDC range remains unchanged.

On both scooters, the bigger battery variants will now come with a new, more powerful 900W portable charger which replaces the older 700W unit. Ather claims a 0-80 percent top-up takes 3hr12min, which is a significant reduction on the earlier charger’s 4hr30min time.

Model	Old battery / IDC range	New Battery / IDC range
450S	3.7kWh / 161km	3.5kWh (NMC) / 161km
450X	3.7kWh / 161km	3.5kWh (NMC) / 161km

As battery technology evolves and Ather’s engineering division makes advances, the company has been able to extract the same amount of range from a smaller battery pack. This allows the company to reduce its input and production costs, and also creates security against disruptions in the supply chain, which is currently a significant challenge for the EV industry.

While these changes will have no negative impact to the customer experience, the prices for the scooters remain the same as before.

Shubham Chaudhary