E-Scooter vs Petrol Scooter Making the Right Choice for Your Commute

Are electric scooters the future? Petrol scooters are cheaper, but are they more cost-effective? Do electric scooters actually make sense for the environment? Scratch that, do electric scooters make sense for YOU? As the electric scooter vs petrol scooter debate rages on, we dig deeper to help you see what your next scooter purchase should look like.

From the cost to ride experience, here’s a  definitive electric scooter vs petrol scooter comparison that helps you answer the question, ‘Is an electric scooter a better purchase than a petrol scooter?’

Electric scooter vs petrol scooter comparilson - The shades of ‘green’

The glaringly obvious argument about environmental impact is always met with rebuttals claiming that electric scooters using coal-generated electricity to refuel are as harmful as tailpipe emissions from petrol scooters, and therefore aren’t as ‘green’.

This theory was disproved in a report originally published by Innovative Clean Coal Technology (ICCT) in 2021 (read the white paper written by us here), stating that even with coal-based electricity, electric vehicles reduce emissions by 35% at the very least. This number goes up to 85% if solar energy is used. But if that’s not the shade of green that appeals to you, then maybe the next one is.

Electric scooter vs petrol scooter comparison - Running cost

First, grab a pair of scissors. Now, snip off that price tag. The first thing to remember while doing an electric scooter vs petrol scooter cost comparison is that the upfront purchase price of a petrol scooter is not the total cost of the vehicle - it’s pretty much just the initial cost. So, instead of comparing the number on the price tag, we look at the TCO, or Total Cost of Ownership, as the metric that shows which kind of scooter is ‘greener’.

Simply put, the TCO is the purchase price of a scooter plus the costs of operation - including fuel, maintenance, warranty and more. For the sake of this electric scooter vs petrol scooter cost comparison, we’ve calculated the lifetime cost of owning the Ather 450X electric scooter and compared it with that of a premium 125cc petrol scooter in Bengaluru. 

The price tag puts the Ather electric scooter on road price in Bangalore at approximately ₹1.33 lakh on-road (Bengaluru) and the petrol scooter price at around ₹1.2 lakh. Assuming an average usage of 30 km/day for 5 years, this is what the electric scooter vs petrol scooter comparison looks like:

The first point to note is that in 5 years, petrol scooters more than double their original on-road price in fuel cost alone (assuming an average petrol cost of ₹100/litre). Even the most fuel-efficient petrol scooters give you a mileage of about 40 km/l over 5 years. Compare that to a TrueRangeTM of 115 km on one full charge on most Ather models. Assuming Bengaluru’s electricity cost of ~₹8/unit, the Ather gives you 438 km for ₹100, as compared to just 40 km from petrol scooters.

The other important factor is service cost. On one hand, petrol scooter manufacturers recommend vehicle servicing every year, with average maintenance costs of ₹6000/year. On the other hand, because petrol scooters consist of several complex moving parts, basic repairs and replacements can add up to ₹20k over a 4-5 year period. Over the same time period, upgrades and maintenance on an Ather 450X scooter work out to only around ₹1500/year on average.

Compared over 4 years, using our TCO calculator, an Ather 450X actually saves you nearly ₹1 lakh! This, even before you consider the various subsidies, road tax benefits and income tax benefits of owning an environment-friendly vehicle. Ka-ching!

Key stats: The per km operating cost of an Ather works out to between 1/6th to 1/8th of a petrol scooter, depending on the cost of electricity and petrol in your city.

Electric scooter vs petrol scooter comparison – Performance

Gone are the days when riding an electric scooter meant riding on the left lane to let faster vehicles pass. Modern electric scooters in India like the Ather 450 Apex can now easily hit a top speed of 100 km/h, matching the performance of their petrol counterparts. 

But what’s more impressive than the speed of an electric scooter is its acceleration. The difference between an electric scooter and petrol scooter engine is the smoothness of the throttle response. This happens because petrol scooters and motorcycles have a power transfer chain or ‘powertrain’ that goes from the engine to the transmission, and then to the wheels. This takes an extra 2-3 seconds to accelerate. Electric scooters’ motors are built to transfer power directly to the wheels for instant acceleration.

Key stats: Ather has Zero throttle lag response. It takes an Ather 450 Apex scooter only 2.9 seconds to go from 0-40 km/h.

Plus, if you’ve never tried the Warp+™ Mode on an Ather scooter, we recommend you take a test ride soon. It’s a feature to which neither a petrol scooter nor a writer can come up with a good enough comparison.

Electric vs petrol scooter – Ride experience

In many ways, doing an electric scooter vs petrol scooter comparison is like comparing a calculator and a computer. Yes, the basic function is transportation. But there is so much more to the experience of riding an electric scooter that it makes their fuel-generated counterparts look almost obsolete.

A petrol vehicle gets you from Point A to Point B. A uni-dimensional transactional experience. But the first ride on an Ather 450X is an unforgettable experience - a glimpse into the possibilities of the future, if you will. While getting from Point A to Point B, you’re taking hands-free calls, listening to music, changing tracks, using  Google Maps, seeing real-time stats on your speed, battery charge levels and so much more, all on a sleek and fluid UI.

You’re discovering things you never thought a scooter could possibly do: like AutoHoldTM, which holds the scooter still on a slope (even without touching the brakes or the handlebar); Park AssistTM, which helps you reverse your scooter from tight spaces. And what’s even more incredible is when you realise that it has the potential to do so much more with every timely update.

The modern petrol scooter took years to evolve into the product it is today. But with real-time insights taken from riders, the electric scooter ride experience has been evolving in leaps and bounds in mere months. Now, why wouldn’t you want to be a part of this (r)evolution?

Electric scooter vs petrol scooter – Improvements

We live in the age of data. And you’d better believe that electric scooters use ride data collected over the years to enhance your ride experience in real time! While petrol scooter users need to buy a new scooter to get improvements on their ride, electric scooters get software upgrades just like your smartphone. 

So, to answer the question, is an electric scooter better than a petrol scooter? Well, we’ll let you try it out and decide for yourself!

P.S. A note of caution. While most Indian electric scooter manufacturers adhere to strict standards, there are many knock-off electric scooters (imported from countries like China, Vietnam etc) out there that do more harm than good – to the environment, your pocket, and your ride experience. Always ensure that you invest in an electric scooter from a reputed manufacturer only. Or, you know, there’s always plain old, boring, conventional petrol scooters.