It takes about 4 hours to fully charge (0 to 100%) an Ather vehicle, when using a home charging Point. Every Ather Grid location has a fast charging point that charges at the rate of 1 km/min i.e. 15 mins of charging helps the scooter gain 15 km.
The onboard charger consumes around 3 kWh of electricity to fully charge an Ather vehicle. Depending on the cost of electricity per unit, one full charge may cost anywhere between ₹15 - ₹24. However, under the Ather One plan, this charging cost gets reimbursed in your wallet every three months, just one of the many benefits of the subscription plan.
While not as quick as Ather Grid, the home charger can charge the 450 and 340 upto 80% in 2 hours 40 minutes. The home charging point has been intentionally designed to let your vehicle charge overnight, while it’s lying idle in your parking lot for almost 6-8 leisurely hours. The purpose of the fast charging points at public locations is to let you stop by and quickly charge on your way, if at all the need arises.
We are working on a guest mode feature that can allow your friends/family to charge from your home charging point in the future. In the meantime, you can place a request with the customer support team to allow permanent access to your friends’ or family members’ vehicle.
The home charging point that we will be setting up at your place is specifically for your vehicle. It won’t be a part of the Ather Grid as this is our public charging network.
This is a valid concern, but not really as big a phenomenon as might be perceived. Among the installation audits that we have carried out, very few have had permission issues from the landlord or the society. We've had instances where, after some initial hesitation, permission has been granted. In cases where the concerned parties have some apprehension, you could make a case for installation to your landlord or society by encouraging them to go through our FAQs document addressing common concerns.
Installation process
Also just for your understanding the regular installation involves minimal drilling. It just requires four small 1-inch diameter holes for mounting the point and standard drilling holes for wire routing, which is a regular practise and damaging in no way. We can assure that there is no need to worry since the installation / uninstallation procedure is simple enough for any electrician to perform.
The point designed for your home is close to the size of an everyday backpack. Here are the dimensions- 480mm x 970mm x 85 mm.
Standard installation:When your parking spot location is such that the length of wiring from your meter to the parking is around 20 m, it's a standard scenario for installation and is absolutely free for you.
Non-standard installation: In case the distance between your parking spot and the meter is higher, and it demands wiring exceeding 20 m, it's a non-standard scenario for installation. In this case, we charge on actuals i.e.: the material cost of wire + routing. Here is the cable and conduit cost.
Cost of cable with conduit: ₹ 90 / extra meter
Cost of cabling without conduit: ₹50 / extra meter
Civil Tranching work in concrete/tar/cement: ₹1400 / meter
Civil Tranching work in mud: ₹250 / meter
Civil Levelling cost: ₹3000
New earthing connection: ₹3000 / pit
Load extentsion: Varies by area & load
Floor Mounting Cost: ₹3000
Above prices do not include 18% GST
In rare cases, when a major civil work and electrical work is involved, the cost will be assessed once the audit is done.
20 m of cable and conduit is covered under standard installation, and we entirely bear the cost for the same. If the parking area from the meter is farther away than that, then we charge only on the actual - the extra material used. Also to give you a sense, till now only one-fifth of all the installations happen to be non-standard in nature and the average cost of non-standard installation has been roughly around INR 1300. Hope that gives you a fair idea.
Interestingly, we've considered this scenario, it’s a real possibility, and we have designed for it. The height at which we install the charging point takes care of the worry. It will be beyond the reach of children, but at the same time, the position to dislodge the charging plug/adaptor from its dock will be just right for you to use it.
Not really, it is not possible to charge Ather vehicles at BESCOM charging points without an adaptor. Ather Grid is free for all Ather customers till 31st Dec, 2019, till then every owner can conveniently charge at the AtherGrid locations. We will certainly consider working on an adaptor, if we see the volume of requests increasing.
Yes, we agree that the charging cable gives you the flexibility of charging anywhere. But that might not be the only thing that should guide your choice of a charging solution.
Both the charging point and the cable have been designed keeping in mind different needs and two kinds of vehicle users. The former suits the one who has a designated parking space, has easy access to Ather Grid (our public charging network) and travels say 45-50 km on an average. And the cable is for someone who may not have an allotted parking spot, travels longer distances, and may find it difficult to spot Ather Grid (network of charging points) on the everyday route. Having said that the home point is designed for overnight charging, and offers a far better experience. It has the following safety features:
- It is water resistant that lets you charge even during rain showers
- Auto authentication prevents power thefts from your meter
- Auto cut-off to deal with power fluctuations
- quipped with control pilot to keep a check on earthing
Also no lugging around the charger, because overnight charging should be enough. And the fact that there is an AtherGrid within 4 km distance from wherever you are should eliminate the need to go hunting for a socket/plug-point with a charging cable in your boot. Saves time, saves effort.
Things to keep in mind while using the charging cable Most of the sockets around do not meet the safety standards; hence the cable might reject quite a few of them, as the safety of the battery is of utmost importance.
- Should not be used to charge vehicle when it’s raining
- The open socket at your parking spot could lead to power theft
- Lacks Control Pilot that keeps a check on earthing
Hope this answers your question :)
