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On August 29, Ather Energy launched its newest family electric scooter, the Konarc, in India with an ex-showroom starting price of Rs 99,999, ex-showroom. It has become the most affordable scooter in Ather’s lineup. Soon after the prices were announced, Ola Electric came up with a social media post mocking the Konarc. It compares Ola’s affordable electric scooter with the closest competition (which is obviously the Konarc). Smartly, the creative doesn’t use any names. The message, however, is loud and clear.

The social media post compares five different aspects of the two scooters- range, battery technology, battery size, underseat storage, and warranty. The basis for this comparison? The two scooters have the same base price- Rs 99,999. Text on the creative reads ‘Same Rs 99,999. Very different scooters’ and then lists out the differences. Sharp!

There are no names in this image. However, it is obvious that the comparison is between the Ola S1 Z and the Konarc. The S1Z has an introductory ex-showroom price of Rs 99,999- same as the Konarc.

It is true that there are some glaring differences between the S1Z and the Konarc, when it comes to specifications and capability. The S1Z uses Ola’s Bharat Cell LFP batteries and has a claimed range of 301km per charge. The reason for this high range is the large size of the battery pack. It has a capacity of 5.1kWh.

The Konarc takes a different approach with its battery size and pricing. It comes in six variants. The entry-level variant, the one that you get for Rs 99,999, ex-showroom, comes with a 2.1 kWh battery pack that has a claimed range of 100 km per charge. This is significantly less than that of the S1Z. Even the range-topping variant comes with a range of just 200 km per charge.

The price of this variant hasn’t yet been announced. The 161 km variant costs Rs 1.45 lakh. So it is logical to expect the price of the 200km version to be higher. This overrides the sub-1 lakh scooter proposition completely. Taking the sub-1 lakh price as the baseline places the Konarc at a disadvantage.

Circling back, the creative also compares the under-seat storage offered by the two. Ola’s scooter offers a 34-litre storage whereas the Konarc has just 31 litres. The difference may be significant on paper. But, 31 litres is quite usable and practical in daily runs. Yes, an additional three litres would make it even more usable.

Finally, there is a comparison between the warranty coverages as well. The S1Z comes with a 3-year or 40,000 km warranty. Ather also offers a 3-year warranty, but the kilometre count is lesser- 30,000.

This isn’t the first time that we have seen Ola Electric taking a dig at the Ather Konarc. Its CEO Bhavish Agarwal, on August 28th, announced the launch of the Ola S1Z. Yes, that’s a day before Ather launched the Konarc. While sharing the news online, he took a jibe at the Konarc.

In his post on X, Bhavish described the specifications and key highlights of the S1Z. He talked about the battery technology, IDC range, and how the product stands out among other budget-friendly electric scooters. He then said ‘today we’re setting a new benchmark for the industry. More than just a metal body with a fancy name’, taking a swipe at the competitor’s much-talked-about electric scooter that’s ready for launch.

The Konarc, in fact, has metak body panels and is built on a new steel Chassis. Underpinning it is Ather’s new EL platform. The wheelbase stands at 1,352 mm. It gets alloy wheels and a long travel suspension as well. The scooter also comes with a built-in 450W onboard charger and charging cable. Ather also provides the option to add an additional 450W charging unit. This will make the combined charging output 900W. This will bring down the charging (0 to 80 percent) time to two hours.