2025 Ather 450X Review: Buy It Over A Bike!

For 2025, Ather has made some minor but important changes to the 450X. Here’s why it’s still India’s most fun-to-ride electric scooter

The Ather 450X has always been one of our favourite electric scooters and for 2025, the brand gave the 450 range a minor but much-needed update. Here’s what it all translated to in the real world: 

What’s New?

Slightly More Safety!

For starters, there is now a multi-mode traction control system. There are three levels of TC: Rain, Road and Rally. A traction control essentially cuts power when it notices that the scooter’s rear tyre has started skidding due to excessive throttle input on low grip surfaces (like gravel or wet roads). So having a safety feature like TC is definitely a very welcome addition. The difference is that Rain mode will obviously be the most conservative one, meaning it’ll cut power the moment it detects even the slightest of rear tyre slip. The leniency will be more in the Road mode while Rally is for the more experienced riders who don’t mind their rear slipping out a little bit before the power is cut. 

Slightly Lesser Running Costs

Then there’s Magic Twist, something that we have previously seen on the Ather Rizta. It is essentially a regenerative braking system which can be engaged when you give negative throttle, meaning twisting the throttle in the forward direction. Regenerative braking not only helps in increasing the range by a claimed 14 percent but it also slows the scooter down without having to get on the brakes. In the city, at least, you will be able to slow down the scooter with a bit of planning so you won’t have to use the brakes all that much, meaning your brake pads will last that little bit longer if you use the regen braking well. 

And talking about the range, it has gone up in both variants. Check it out below: 

Note - These are TrueRange figures, which is Ather’s way of saying that these are real-world figures and not IDC (Indian Driving Cycle) ones 

The increase in range is definitely substantial and Ather electric scooters have been quite reliable in terms of the range they promise vs the range they deliver. So while we couldn’t test the range claims on the short first ride, we’re quite optimistic about the similarity between the real-world and claimed figures. 

Slightly More Fun 

The Ather 450s had always been really fun electric scooters and that very fun factor has now been taken up a notch. The 450X range now gets MRF Zapper N e-tred tyres and even on the short first ride, they proved to be a bit more fun than the previous ones. They feel a bit more grippy and even in the wet patches of the track, we had enough confidence to lean the scooter over, meaning it’ll definitely make the riders feel more confident than before. 

Slightly Better Looks

The 2025 Ather 450X now also gets 2 new colours: Stealth Blue and Hyper Sand. Both look quite nice but the Stealth Blue stood out a bit more for us with its dark blue shade and attractive graphics. 

How Has It Changed The Riding Experience?

All these ‘slight’ changes have changed the riding experience….slightly. The traction control system works well and there truly is a difference in the way it cuts power in all 3 modes. Magic Twist works well too and if you plan it well, you will not need to use your brakes in the city at all as just using negative throttle will be good enough to slow the scooter down. The new colours look attractive and the new tyres are better, even if it’s by just a small margin. And finally, the extra range is always a welcome addition in any electric vehicle so we’re quite happy with that too. 

Is It Worth The Higher Asking Price? 

Before we get to that, here’s how much the asking price has increased: 

 While the price hikes for the 450X’s variants aren’t massive, the scooters don’t get the traction control system and Magic Twist as standard. They’re both a part of the Ather Pro Pack and the pack comes as standard on just the Apex. Here’s how much it costs for the two standard variants:  

 Now while the Pro Packs’ costs have remained the same, we still think they are a bit too expensive for offering features that come as standard on much more affordable two-wheelers. Things like navigation are now available on the TVS Jupiter SmartXonnect variant (Rs 86,891 onwards, ex-showroom Bengaluru) and hence should’ve been standard on these scooters. 

And while we’re at that, we think the 450X series should also have had at least a single-channel ABS system by now. These are sporty scooters with exciting performance and ABS would’ve enhanced their overall appeal significantly. If nothing, at least the rather expensive Ather 450 Apex should’ve had ABS. 

These things said, if you’re looking for a fun-to-ride electric scooter, the Ather 450X series is still the king of the segment. They’re light, easy to ride, fast and every time you get on one you will be left laughing with glee inside your helmet. Yes, they are expensive but on an Ather, you could very well leave your friends behind who are on similarly-priced bikes. So if excitement and fun are of utmost importance to you, it’s still hard to beat the Ather 450X series.