Ola S1 Pro vs Ather 450X: Which One To Buy?

With deliveries commencing soon, you might be wondering whether the Ola S1 Pro is a good enough buy over the Ather 450X. Well, we’ve ridden both, so here’s what we think

Ola Electric made big headlines with its ambitious plans of charging infrastructure, not to mention the launch of the Ola S1 and S1 Pro electric scooters. The test rides have finally commenced and deliveries will be starting soon. It goes directly against the Ather 450X, which is more of a well-established been-there-done-that kind of offering in the electric scooter space. If you’re confused between buying one of the two, you’ve come to the right place.

Our Impressions Of The Ola S1 Pro:

Let’s get the positive bits out of the way first. The Ola S1 Pro is loaded with tons of cool, geeky features. You can lock/unlock the scooter via a proximity sensor in the key fob, and even the underseat storage compartment can be accessed via the touchscreen. It also offers hill-hold function, a proper navigation system (powered by Map My India), and phone controls. Of course, other run-of-the-mill features include geo-fencing, OTA updates and a reverse gear. 

More importantly, the Ola S1 Pro gets plenty of cargo space. The 36-litre underseat storage compartment is spacious enough to accommodate two half-face helmets. That said, it isn’t deep enough to fit in a full-face one. Additionally, you also get cubby holes on the apron. 

But on the flipside, the throttle calibration of the e-scooter we tested was quite imperfect, resulting in a sluggish throttle response. While it is slightly less perceivable in Sport and Hyper modes, the scooter’s throttle continues to be open for a fraction of a second even when you’ve let go of the gas. This may be a serious safety hazard, particularly on crowded roads and during panic braking situations.

Interestingly, the Sport mode also felt briskier than Hyper mode, but in a few minutes of riding in the latter, the performance got cut down without a warning on the dash, presumably to protect the motor and the battery from overheating. The paint quality in our test scooter, particularly the gloss black version, was inconsistent, and the buttons on the switchgear didn’t really feel tactile enough either. Besides, the limited time we got with the scooter wasn’t enough to verify the claimed 181km range. 

Our Impressions Of The Ather 450X:

The most talked-about feature of the Ather 450X is its Warp mode, which offers an instantaneous surge of torque that’s immediately felt the moment you twist the throttle. Its acceleration will leave most of the petrol-powered scooters in the dust. More importantly, the Warp mode is consistent, and we did not witness any drop in performance in the time we had the scooter. 

The chassis is well balanced, making the scooter easily flickable. Moreover, it weighs a whole 17kg less than the Ola S1 Pro. This, coupled with the reverse gear, makes the scooter a breeze to maneuver in tight spaces. 

We were able to achieve 91.4km in Eco mode, which is good enough for a scooter of this segment. The range drops to 70km (claimed) in Ride mode, and 60km (claimed) in Sport mode. That said, Ather does have quite a few fast-charging stations in major cities where it sells the scooter. So, you’ll just have to plan your trip accordingly.

Verdict:

The Ola S1 Pro is loaded with features but at the moment, it does have some niggling issues on aspects where it counts: the dynamics, and overall finish levels. Ola claims it’ll have 5,000 charging points in as many as 100 cities in the first year but they’re all yet to be established. Moreover, only a proper road test will give us a good enough idea of the range.

As it stands, the Ather 450X seems to be a more proven, feature-packed option if you’re willing to live with the relatively lesser range.