Kolkata honks, Delhi cruises, B’luru bumps in Ather data | India Business News
BENGALURU: Among Ather’s connected scooter riders, Kolkata appears to be the most enthusiastic user of the horn. Its riders honked 137 times a day on average, far ahead of the 82 honks recorded in the next-ranked city.Delhi, meanwhile, used Ather’s cruise-control feature more than any other city. It also recorded the most crashes in the company’s data. Mumbai was at the other end, with the fewest crashes and scooter-fall alerts.Bengaluru generated the highest number of pothole detections among large cities, Ather Energy co-founder and CEO Tarun Mehta said while presenting data from the company’s scooters at its Community Day on Saturday.These are not citywide surveys. The findings come solely from Ather’s connected fleet, which has 7.65 lakh scooters on the road. The company’s coverage is also deeper in older and larger markets such as Bengaluru. Except for Kolkata’s per-customer horn usage, Ather did not disclose the underlying counts or say whether the city comparisons were adjusted for its fleet size or kilometres covered.The data nevertheless offered some unusual snapshots of how cities move. “Kolkata wins this race with 137 horns per day per customer,” Mehta said, adding that the gap with the next city was unusually wide.In Mumbai, Ather’s comparison of roads named after Mahatma Gandhi produced both extremes. The MG Road near Fashion Street in south Mumbai ranked as the best, while the one in Ghatkopar was among the worst. In Bengaluru, Mehta said recent white-topping had made MG Road one of the better stretches in the comparison. The city was also registering among the fewest skids and slippages.Separate information shared by Ather with TOI earlier showed that, as of August 5, its database had recorded more than one crore road “impediments” across India. The figure combines speed breakers with potholes, broken patches and uneven roads. It cannot, therefore, be treated as the number of potholes in the country or a ranking of road quality.Ather scooters use an inertial measurement unit, which reads acceleration, tilt, vibration and jolts as a vehicle moves. One scooter passing over a rough patch is not treated as conclusive. The system requires corroborating readings from multiple scooters on the same stretch. Repeated readings are clubbed into one alert rather than counted as fresh defects each time.The company said such detections typically rise during the monsoon. Roads covered more frequently by its riders are also updated faster. Ather said a couple of state governments had approached it about using the information, but did not name them.At Saturday’s event, Ather also launched the Konarc, its first scooter built on the new EL platform, at a starting ex-showroom price of Rs 99,999. The scooter will have four S-line and two Z-line variants, with claimed test-cycle ranges going up to 200km. Deliveries of select S variants will begin from September 21 in a phased rollout.Konarc has metal body panels, a 14-inch front wheel, onboard charging and a 10,000 km service interval. Ather is positioning it as a more affordable, comfort-oriented scooter for buyers who have so far stayed with petrol models.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com