Ather 450 Apex

Twist the throttle at a red light and the Apex just goes — no whine, no hesitation, the mid-mounted 7kW motor and enclosed belt drive sending power down almost silently. It's the most refined-feeling Ather yet; you notice the absence of chain slap more than you'd expect. In city traffic the Apex is happiest sitting at 45-55kmph between signals, but it'll comfortably touch its 100kmph top speed on an open flyover if you hold Warp+ mode open, and 0-40kmph arrives in a claimed 2.9 seconds — enough to leave most 125cc petrol scooters, and the ₹1.41 lakh Bajaj Chetak Premium next to you, behind at the green light. Highway cruising at a steady 80kmph is genuinely relaxed now that Infinite Cruise (City, Hill and Crawl modes) handles the throttle for you.

The catch is range. Ather claims 157km (ARAI) from the 3.7kWh pack, but real-world numbers land at roughly 130km in SmartEco, 110km in Eco, and just 80km in Warp+ — so a rider who mixes commuting and spirited riding should plan on 90-110km per charge. For a 20km daily commute that's still 4-5 days between charges, but weekend highway runs will need planning. This is where the price comparison stings: the Ola S1 Pro+ (₹1.90 lakh for the 5.3kWh variant — just ₹5,000 cheaper than the Apex) claims 320km of range and a 141kmph top speed, more than double what the Apex offers for essentially the same money.

Settle onto the flat-floored Apex and the ergonomics feel spacious for a single rider, with enough floorboard room to shift your feet on a long ride. The 780mm seat height is on the taller side though — riders under 5'3" will find themselves tip-toeing at every stop, something shorter riders on the lower-slung ₹1.41 lakh Chetak Premium won't deal with. Over Bengaluru's monsoon-cratered service roads, the telescopic front fork does a fair job soaking up small ruts but transmits sharper edges through the bars on deep potholes taken at speed. The rear monoshock is composed solo, but load up a pillion plus a backpack and it starts feeling busier over broken tarmac, occasionally bottoming out on bigger speed breakers.

At 111.6kg kerb weight, the Apex is light enough to flick between lanes without arm fatigue, and the low centre of gravity from the underfloor battery makes filtering through Mumbai traffic feel natural rather than effortful — you can lane-switch for 30-40 minutes straight without your wrists complaining.

The 7-inch TFT touchscreen is the Apex's party piece — sharp, legible even in Delhi's midday glare, and running AtherStack 6 with Google Maps turn-by-turn navigation, live location sharing, WhatsApp message previews and Alexa voice commands right on the dash. You genuinely can leave your phone in your pocket for most rides. Braking comes from discs front and rear with CBS on 12-inch alloys — strong and progressive, though it's worth noting the Apex relies on CBS rather than a dual-channel ABS setup. TPMS is bundled in as part of the Delight kit, and a side-stand indicator plus reverse-assisted Park Assist round out the practical touches; starts are, obviously, silent every time.

Where the Apex loses ground is value-for-tech: the TVS iQube S, at ₹1.56 lakh (₹39,000 less than the Apex), already matches most of this feature list while offering a noticeably bigger battery and storage advantage. And the Ola S1 Pro+ again undercuts on price while adding a proper reverse mode, four distinct ride modes, and OTA updates as standard — the Apex's tech is excellent in isolation, just not clearly ahead of what ₹40,000 less buys elsewhere.

Nothing on Indian roads looks quite like the Apex. The translucent rear side panels showing off the bright orange chassis underneath, combined with the enclosed belt drive and stubby tail section, make it a genuine head-turner at a signal — people will ask what it is. The Indium Blue paint with orange graphics feels premium in person, and panel gaps are tight, nothing rattles. Ather's design language reads as confidently futuristic rather than trying to look like a petrol scooter, which sets it apart from the Chetak's retro metal-bodied approach.

The letdown is choice: the Apex comes in exactly one colour and one variant. Pay ₹1.95 lakh and your scooter looks identical to every other Apex in the parking lot, whereas Chetak Premium buyers get multiple colourways for ₹54,000 less, and TVS iQube buyers get several shades too. For a flagship priced this high, the lack of personalisation feels like a missed opportunity. It'll appeal most to tech-forward urban professionals who want their scooter to look like a gadget first and a vehicle second — and who are fine with everyone else's Apex looking exactly like theirs.