The Indian two-wheeler EV market is gaining momentum with legacy manufacturers expected to sell close to 10 lakh units by the end of the year. But the EV start-ups look to put up a tough fight to the sales numbers with Ather and Simple, both Bengaluru based EV makers, launching new EV family scooters. The Ather Konarc S 161 will be available from later this month and Simple has announced that deliveries for the Wave also start this month. Let’s see how both of them compare on paper.
Simple Wave vs Ather Konarc S 161: Motor, battery, and charging
Simple offers more power, battery, and faster standard charger
Simple’s scooter brings in a strong first punch with a higher powered motor and a marginally bigger battery than the Ather Konarc S. It also has a notably higher top speed as compared to the Konarc. The Wave comes bundled with a faster 750W off-board charger which enables it to charge to 80 percent almost two hours faster than the Konarc, which gets a 450W on-board charger as standard. However, Ather gives the option to add another 450W off-board charger to enable faster 900W charging. Simple currently doesn’t offer such an option for the Wave.
Simple Wave vs Ather Konarc S 161: Dimensions and underpinnings
Konarc gets a lower seat, but weighs more
On paper, the Konarc has a marginally longer wheelbase than the Wave, but do note that the Wave boasts the longest seat in the country at 920mm, a title earlier held by Ather’s Rizta. For what it's worth, we did not face any issues with the Konarc, space-wise or comfort-wise. Ather’s scooter also has a slightly lower seat height but it’s a negligible difference to most users. What’s not negligible is its 4.5kg additional weight over the Simple Wave, but it’s explained by the Konarc using metal body panels.
Simple Wave vs Ather Konarc S 161: Brakes, tyres, and suspension
Konarc gets larger tyres
The Ather Konarc is the first Ather to get a 14-inch tyre, even if it’s just at the front; and its rear tyre is larger than the Wave, which sticks to a 12-inch at both ends. Both scooters have a front disc brake and a rear drum brake although Simple hasn’t clarified the size of the Wave’s rear drum. On the suspension side of things, the major difference is that the Wave uses a twin shock rear suspension, whereas the Konarc gets a monoshock unit.
Simple Wave vs Ather Konarc S 161: Features
Features filled to the brim, for an added price
Features have been the trump card for almost all EVs from their inception and Ather has led that charge from the front. Simple appears to have caught up to Ather with both the scooters matching each other on features like fall safe, hill-hold, smartphone connectivity, and a TFT cluster on the top variants and a LCD cluster on the lower variants. Simple does offer you a choice between the TFT and the LCD cluster on the Wave (TFT costs Rs 15,000 extra), whereas Ather has reserved the TFT cluster for the Z line, due to launch next year. Features-wise, both companies offer turn-by-turn navigation, call and SMS alerts, GPS tracking, etc., Ather Konarc S’ gets most of those features in its LCD cluster, but Simple has reserved all of these for the TFT cluster variants.
A majority of these features do require additional subscriptions. Ather’s is a one-time cost of Rs 17,000 (Ather StackPro) for the Konarc S 161 variant. Simple, on the other hand, offers two kinds of subscription plans. The first plan is a one-time purchase to add Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) and Connectivity modules. The second plan is a yearly subscription that enables all the smart features the company has to offer. At the time of writing, Simple hasn’t revealed the prices for the Wave line-up yet. Just for perspective, for the One scooter with a 5kWh battery, you have to pay a Rs 3,687 one-time payment for the first plan and Rs 2,999 per year for the second plan. To be clear, it’s possible to buy and use either scooter without subscribing to these add-ons, but the experience will feel a lot like a typical ICE scooter.
Simple Wave vs Ather Konarc S 161: Price
Ather gets the better starting price
For all that it offers and the longest seat in the scooter industry and 63L boot space and and additional 7 litres of cubby storage, spread across the scooter with innovative spots like Pill-storage, the Simple Wave costs Rs 1.60 lakh for the LCD cluster variant and Rs 15,000 extra for the TFT variant. The Ather Konarc without Ather StackPro comes in at Rs 1.45 lakh and with it would go up to Rs 1.60 lakh. While Ather has officially announced that the Konarc S 161 variant will be available from later this month, Simple hasn’t clarified if their “deliveries in September” claim applies to all six of their variants. If you’re interested in either scooter, we’d suggest that you check out and test ride them before deciding.
Vishal Venugopal
Ved Janve
