Ather Energy was founded in 2013 by IIT-Madras graduates Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain, providing the innovation to the era, the startup launched two electric scooters namely, the S340 and S450, along with the AtherGrid that follows to be an electric vehicle charging infrastructure. The launch was framed three months ago, that was brought in families who wanted to experience this vehicle, making this their first purchase in the family.
While the curiosity pops up among the few, a lot of people have now seen the product or ridden one and are keen and interested to know more about it. “We have pre-order interest from tens of thousands of people across India, and we plan to go to them soon. The Chennai experience centre is under construction and will open shortly, to be followed by ones in Pune, Hyderabad, and Mumbai. We plan to be present in four-five cities by the end of this year,” claimed Tarun Mehta, Co-founder of Ather Energy.
The interest in EVs is high across the country, and the online Ather community reveals that some owners have taken their electric scooters to a very expanding distance, with one riding the bike from Bengaluru to Tirupati that includes a distance of 254 kilometres.“A customer has taken the bike to Goa, many have gone to Nandi Hills and back. An electric bike means you need to plan your trip, but its possible,” stated Tarun. By this it becomes clear that the time of electric vehicles has come, and India must put its weight behind EVs and relevant infrastructure.
The Ather bike runs for about 75 km on a single charge, but some customers state that they have managed to wander around 100 km. The total time to charge the vehicle is four hours where, 80 percent of the battery charges in just two hours. The company offers two financing options, a long-term EMI product for a brief of five years, and a five-year lease where a refundable down payment of Rs 75,000 entails a rent of just over Rs 1,700. The person can also choose to return the vehicle after the selective period of usage and kilometres travelled, provided the terms and conditions to be followed.
According to Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), there are 100,000 EVs in use in India currently. While, a recent study indicated that around 87 percent of the country’s population who own a vehicle is willing to switch to EVs, it makes a massive step ahead for the EVs to step ahead and render to the needs of the Indian society. If the government and startups like Ather Energy, count on EVs, then surely we will ride into an electric and efficient future.
