Ather Rizta

The Rizta is Ather’s attempt at a family-oriented electric scooter. Launched in April 2024, the Rizta was a long time coming, given how well the Olas, iQubes and Chetaks were selling. And given how much we love the Ather 450 series for their sportiness and sheer fun-to-ride factor, the launch of the Rizta just seemed to complete Ather’s stable, it now having a sporty and a family-oriented electric scooter.

And the Rizta wasn’t just a 450X converted into a bigger scooter with more bodywork. Ather made a whole host of changes for the Rizta to ensure it’s better suited for the needs of everyone in the family. Today, the Rizta is the most affordable Ather scooter on sale in India and in about 15 months after its launch, the scooter recently breached the 1 lakh figure in total sales.

Over this very year, I’ve tested the Rizta in various conditions and ridden it back to back with not only electric scooters, but also popular ICE scooters like the TVS Jupiter 110. Let's find out if you should buy it.

Like the 450, the Ather Rizta looks thoroughly modern too. While it’s obviously not as sharp and sporty as the 450, it’ll still grab a lot of attention. In fact, when I saw it in person for the first time, what stood out was just how large and spacious it was: be it the large seat, underseat storage or even the overall size. As much as I love the Ather 450X for its compactness and sharp handling, it was nice to finally have an Ather scooter in which my knees don’t brush against the apron. 

Ather Rizta Colours

The Rizta is offered in 7 colours - Pangong Blue, Pangong Blue Duo, Alphonso Yellow Duo, Cardamom Green Duo, Deccan Grey Duo, Deccan Grey and Siachen White. My only gripe with the Rizta’s aesthetics are the colours. All 7 are mostly rather subtle colours, with the exception of Alphonso Yellow Duo which has a yellow lower half. Now while I don’t expect it to have outrageously shouty colours, given it’s a family scooter, it could’ve done with something like a bright blue. The TVS Jupiter 110, for example, comes in a bright blue colour which looks very pretty without looking shouty. That said, if I had to pick one of the lot, I’d go for either the Yellow or the Siachen White, for the white does look quite nice. 

Ather Rizta Build quality

What’s consistent between the Rizta and the 450X is the build quality and attention to detail, something Ather does quite well. The Rizta looks like a big, expensive scooter and none of the plastics feel cheap. Little things like the small section in which the side stand slots in nicely make it look neat and something which was thoughtfully done. My favourite thing about Ather scooters (something they don’t get enough credit for) is the way the brand does pillion footpegs. They look like extensions of the footboard and are delightfully comfortable even for pillions with long legs like me. 

Ather Rizta Safety Features

The Ather Rizta gets CBS (Combined Braking System) which automatically applies the front brake when you get on the rear brakes. While it’s a good thing to have, I think the scooter should’ve gotten at least a single channel ABS, for it would’ve made things a lot safer. Luckily a new ruling of the Indian government will make ABS mandatory for all two-wheelers in the country soon. Other safety features include AutoHold, which worked very well on our Rizta, FallSafe (automatically cuts off the motor if it detects a fall) and Emergency Stop Signal (flashes tail ights when the scooter’s brakes are applied suddenly, alerting the drivers behind you). There’s also SkidControl (traction control) but it’s not standard for the base S variant. Here's how it compares against the Yamaha EC-06 features-wise.

Ather Rizta Convenience Features

The Ather Rizta gets a 7-inch TFT console but unlike the one on the 450X. While the scooter we tested didn't have a touchscreen display, the updated top-model is equipped with one. For scooters with a non-touchscreen display, Ather has opted for a 5-way joystick mounted on the left side of the handlebar to operate the interface. The screen covers the usual suite of connected tech—call and message notifications, media controls, and even goes a step further by showing you your five most recent WhatsApp messages. On top of that, there's Alexa support built in. I found it quite nice to use and it won’t take long for you to get the hang of it. 

Ather has also brought the Magic Twist over to the Rizta. This feature allows the throttle to rotate slightly in the reverse direction, and that is used to control the regenerative braking force. It's essentially a way of slowing down the scooter without needing to grab the brakes, and once I was accustomed to it, I started using it in place of the brakes and could even come to a complete stop using only that reverse throttle motion. 

Something completely new on the Rizta is SkidControl, which is essentially a traction control system. The system monitors rear wheel slip and gently cuts power when needed. This is a must have feature in monsoons or if you’re riding on slippery roads. 

However, do note that all these advanced features are only unlocked if you opt for the Pro Pack. On the mid-variant Rizta Z with the 2.9kWh battery, this pack costs an additional Rs 20,000. It doesn’t just bring the extra tech—it also extends the warranty by two more years or 30,000km over the standard 3-year/30,000km cover, giving you 5 years or 60,000km in total.

Ather Rizta Storage Options

The Rizta has a massive 34-litre boot that had enough space for pretty much everything I put in it. Groceries, bags, laptops, files and most helmets (except the full face international size helmets), the boot will devour pretty much everything. And if that’s still not enough for you, Ather offers a frunk (front trunk) as an accessory for extra storage space. There’s also a storage organiser which will divide the entire boot into near little spaces for you to bifurcate the things you’re storing. In short, on the storage and practicality front, the Ather Rizta does very well.

Ather Rizta Rider Comfort

The Ather Rizta has a long single piece seat with a little step up in the middle. The little step up does not hinder the space on offer in any way and just creates a bit of bifurcation in terms of what space is for the rider and what’s for the pillion. As I mentioned earlier, there’s tons of room for the rider to move around and even if I sat towards the front part of the seat, my knees still had more than enough space. In fact, my 6 foot frame had to turn my knees outwards each time I wanted to take u-turns on a 450, something I am glad I don’t have to do on the Rizta. I could even put my backpack on the floorboard and there was still enough room down there. Talking about the handlebar, it is placed nice and high too, to ensure an upright and comfortable riding posture. On the whole, there’s very little to complain about the Ather Rizta’s rider seat. 

Ather Rizta Pillion Comfort

At the Rizta launch, I was aboard the Rizta with my 6’ 2" well-built colleague as my pillion and what’s usually a painful experience for both of us (getting on any scooter together), turned out to be surprisingly comfortable for me and him. The slight step up in the seat meant that what area was his and what was mine was clearly bifurcated. Plus the seat’s relatively flat, meaning there’s practically no sliding around each time the rider brakes. And as I mentioned earlier, the Rizta’s pillion footpegs are just too good! They’re forward-set and at just the right height, meaning even my giant colleague’s legs were placed at a comfortable distance from his body and it was a cruiser-like feet-forward sitting position for him. Full marks to Ather there. 

If you’re someone who travels with a pillion a lot, I’d recommend getting the accessory backrest (it’s standard with the Z variant, not the S variant). The pillion having something to rest their back on, which makes things a lot better and given how responsive EVs are in terms of power delivery, the pillion having the backrest to hold them in place.

The Ather Rizta’s motor makes a peak power of 4.3kW and has a claimed top speed of 80kmph along with two riding modes: SmartEco and Zip. It reaches 0-40kmph in a claimed 4.7 seconds, while it did that in 4.28 seconds in our tests (in Zip mode). 

Ather Rizta City Performance

The Rizta’s Zip riding mode is just fine for the city. Its performance was respectable and while it obviously didn’t impress me like the 450X, it’s understandable given it’s a family scooter. Otherwise, the power delivery is immediate and smooth, making the Rizta quite nice to filter through traffic and easy for everyone in the family to ride. What surprised me though, was just how slow Eco mode was. In our tests, it took the scooter 16.69 seconds to accelerate from 0-40kmph! It felt lethargic and almost unusable, even in the city. Climbing the smallest of inclines felt like a task and doing all of that with a pillion is just almost impossible in this mode. 

Ather Rizta Highway Performance

Respectable, is the word I’d use for the Rizta’s highway performance too. It can maintain a steady speedo-indicated 70kmph without feeling too stressed and even if your daily commutes include short highway jaunts, the Rizta will take care of it. But I said ‘short’ because trying to maintain highway speeds for a longer amount of time will obviously eat into the range at a quicker pace. And that’s not an issue specifically with the Rizta, just something you will have to take care of when purchasing an electric vehicle. 

Ather Rizta Range

We had the top-spec Rizta Z variant with a TrueRange of 125km. I rode the scooter mostly in Zip mode and even that returned a range of just under 100km. Now that might not sound like a whole lot but it was just fine for about a week’s worth of commuting for me. If you’re a more patient person than me (which is very much possible), and you’re fine with the SmartEco mode, that range figure could easily crawl towards the 125km mark. 

Ather Rizta Charging Times

Charging times from 0-100% are 5 hr 45 min through the fast charger and 8 hr 30 min through the PC lite charger. Those figures are fine and once you get into the habit of charging the scooter overnight, plugging the scooter in once a week isn’t really a hassle. Even without a home charger, if you figure out a reliable, long-term charging spot on your commuting route, a bit of planning is all it’ll take to ensure you don’t run out of charge at odd times.

Ather Rizta Underpinnings

The Ather Rizta uses the 450X’s chassis but with revisions to make it a better family scooter. There’s a telescopic fork at the front and a monoshock at the rear. The 12-inch wheels are shod with a 90/90 front and a 100/80 rear tyre. Both are alloy wheels with tubeless tyres. Making the Rizta more convenient are the 90 degree valves that bend outwards, which make inflating the tyres incredibly easy.  

Ather Rizta City Handling

Being a family scooter, the Rizta is obviously not a sharp handler like the 450X and that’s okay. Filtering through the city is still easy and the Rizta makes for a rapid scooter around town. The only thing to keep in mind though, if you’ve ridden the 450X or 450S, is that the Rizta is a much larger scooter. So all the smaller gaps that you previously attacked with the 450s might not be attackable with the Rizta. 

Ather Rizta Highway Handling

Out on the highway too, the Rizta’s handling is quite predictable. Every time I wanted to change lanes, even at speeds of 50-60kmph, the electric scooter behaved in a predictable manner. While it obviously wasn’t razor sharp, it felt stable. The 125kg weight might sound on the higher side on paper, but it definitely makes the Rizta feel quite stable out on the highway. 

Ather Rizta Braking

As we’ve come to expect from Ather, the Rizta’s brakes are very good. The front disc brake is sharp and has a good bite. The rear drum, while not as sharp, is still progressive and can be used with the front brake. That said, the lack of ABS (at least a single channel unit at the front) is a big miss. Given that basic 110cc bikes now come with ABS, an electric scooter that costs upwards of 1 lakh should have had it. And given that everyone in the family might be riding the Rizta, the safety net that ABS brings on our unpredictable roads is invaluable. 

Ather Rizta Ride Quality

I talked about the Rizta’s excellent ergonomics earlier, but the ride quality is where the scooter takes a step back. Now yes, the Rizta is definitely a lot more comfortable than the Ather 450X or 450S, but it’s still not as comfortable as I expect a family scooter should be. The Jupiter 110, for example, has set such a high standard for comfort, I can’t help but feel that the Rizta should’ve been softer. Going through just one bad patch of road (with a pillion), made me realise how bouncy the scooter can get. And given how excellent (not) the state of our roads is, the Rizta will make you feel its stiffer suspension the moment the roads get bad.

Ather had one goal with the Rizta — to build an electric scooter that genuinely works for families — and in that regard, they’ve done quite well in most areas. The Rizta is practical, convenient, feature-packed and has reasonable performance. Unlike the Ather 450s, the Rizta isn’t about thrills — it’s built more for utility than performance. So if you're after a dependable, family-friendly EV that can cater to everyone at home, the Rizta makes a compelling case for itself.

Ather Rizta Variants

The Rizta is on sale in 2 variants: S and Z. The base variant S costs Rs 1,14,999. Its IDC-certified is 123km (2.9kWh battery pack), is available in 3 colours: Deccan Grey, Siachen White and Pangong Blue (you’ll have to pay Rs 2,000 extra for Pangong Blue) and has the standard seat. There’s only turn-by-turn navigation available on the S. Charging times, meanwhile, are 6hr 30min from 0-80% and 8hr 30min for 0-100%. Other differences include a storage of 8GB and a RAM of 1GB for the instrument console. 

Then there is the Z variant, which is available with either a 2.9kWh battery or a 3.7kWh battery. The former returns an IDC-certified range of 123km, while the latter’s figure for the same is 159km. Other differences include lower charging times (4hr 30 min for 0-80% and 5hr 45min for 0-100%) for the 3.7kWh variant. The storage and RAM are both doubled, at 16GB and 2GB respectively. Then there are four extra colours: Deccan Grey Duo, Cardamom Green Duo, Pangong Blue Duo and Alphonso Yellow Duo. And finally, this variant gets features like Google Maps, Magic Twist, SkidControl, Dashboard Auto Brightness, Document Storage, Ping my scooter, Inter-city Trip Planner and Auto-reply to calls as standard. The Z variant will cost Rs 1,29,999 for the 2.9kWh variant and Rs 1,49,999 for the 3.7kWh variant (both prices effective ex-showroom price in Bengaluru, including the subsidies from the PM E-Drive scheme).

Ather Rizta vs TVS iQube

For a lot of people, the Ather Rizta could come across as the better-looking, better-finished, more substantial scooter with more features. But the TVS iQube makes up for lost ground with its softer suspension and multiple variants, making for a much lower entry point in terms of price. TVS also has a lot more dealerships than Ather which could give more peace of mind to most owners. 

Ather Rizta vs Bajaj Chetak

The Rizta, again, comes across as a physically larger scooter than the Bajaj Chetak, which some owners might like. While the price difference isn’t massive, the Chetak’s metal body and beautiful looks create a sense of nostalgia among buyers which the Rizta cannot.

Ather Rizta vs Vida VX2

The Rizta is overall bigger than the Vida VX2  in terms of proportions and it also offers more performance and range when compared. Here is how the Ather Rizta competes with the  Vida VX2 in images.