| Ather Energy Pvt. Ltd. | |
| Type: | Private |
| Industry: | |
| Location: | Bangalore, Karnataka, India |
| Production: | 51,749[1] |
| Production Year: | 2022 |
| Revenue: | (FY24)[2] |
| Owner: | Hero MotoCorp (38%) |
| Footnotes: | [3] |
Ather Energy is an Indian electric two-wheeler manufacturer, headquartered in Bangalore. It was founded by Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain in 2013. It currently manufactures electric scooters known as the Ather 450 Apex, Ather 450S, Ather 450X, Ather 450X Pro and Ather Rizta. It has two EV manufacturing facilities, one in Whitefield, Bangalore, and the other in Hosur, Tamil Nadu.[4] [5]
It is India's third-largest electric two-wheeler manufacturer after Ola Electric, TVS Motor Company and Bajaj Auto . It has also established electric vehicle charging infrastructure across the country, called Ather Grid.
Ather Energy was founded in 2013 by Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain.
In early 2014, it received from the Technology Development Board under the Department of Science and Technology, IIT Madras and Srini V Srinivasan, an IIT alumnus and founder of Aerospike.[6] In December 2014, Flipkart founders, Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, invested $1 million as seed capital.[7] In May 2015, it received $12 million from Tiger Global for investments in development, testing, production and the launch of the vehicle.[8]
On 23 February 2016, the company unveiled its first scooter, the S340, at a technology conference Surge in Bengaluru.[9] [10] Hero MotoCorp invested in the Series B round of funding in October 2016. It invested again in 2018 to the tune of .[11] [12]
In May 2019, Ather Energy raised $51 million in another round of funding, led by Sachin Bansal's investment of $32 million. Hero MotoCorp converted its convertible debt of $19 million as a part of this round. In addition to this, InnoVen Capital extended an $8 million venture debt.[13]
In December 2019, Ather Energy signed a MoU with the Government of Tamil Nadu to set up a manufacturing plant for electrical vehicles in Hosur. The invested amount will be around .[14] [15]
The company added two new products to its portfolio, the Ather 450X and the Ather 450 Plus, in January 2020.[16]
In July 2020, Ather Energy raised $11.4 million from Hero MotoCorp, as a part of its Series C round funding.[17] In November 2020, Ather Energy raised a fresh round of as a part of the Series D round, led by Sachin Bansal's investment of and $12 million by Hero MotoCorp.[18]
Ather Energy began operations at its production facility in Hosur, Tamil Nadu, on 2 January 2021.[19] The new Ather factory has an annual capacity of 110,000 scooters and 120,000 battery packs.[20] The company currently has a presence in 27 cities across 15 states.[21]
Ather Energy also establishes Ather Grid, an electric vehicle charging infrastructure, in the cities it is present in. The company has set up over 1000 fast charging points in 80+ cities across India as of May 2023.
The Ather Rizta is an upcoming family electric scooter. Rizta was revealed on April 6, 2024, at the Ather Community Day 2024. Developed under codename project Diesel, It is slated to be the brands most mass-market model yet. The new family electric scooter will primarily focus on practicality, usability, and space.
The Ather Apex is a limited edition of the 450X. It was launched on January 6, 2024. It featured a special blue (Indium Blue) and orange colourway with translucent side panels. It also had new features like Magic Twist. Top speed was improved to a 100km/h in a mode called Warp+.
Ather 450S was officially launched on August 11, 2023, with a 5400-watt PMSM motor that generates a torque of 22 Nm. It offers a range of 115 km and a true range of 90 km on a single charge, and it has a top speed of 90 km/h. It takes 6 hours 36 minutes from 0–80% and 8 hours 36 minutes from 0–100% with a portable home charger.[22]
It has features like emergency stop signal (ESS), Vehicle FallSafe, a guide-me-on light, Trip Planner, and Theft & Tow Alerts.[23]
Ather Energy has also introduced the Ather Stack 6.0 software with improved graphics. The software includes features such as Wings of Power, Google Vector Maps, Coastal Regen and Auto Hold. However, Auto Hold is only available for the Gen 4,3 and Gen 3.1 models. The Gen 2 model does not support this feature due to different motor controllers. The Ather 450X Gen 4 includes new colour options and upgraded software.
Launched on 7 January 2023. Ather Energy has also introduced the Ather Stack 5.0 software with improved graphics. The software includes features such as Wings of Power, Google Vector Maps, and Auto Hold. However, Auto Hold is only available for the Gen 3 and Gen 3.1 models. The Gen 2 model does not support this feature due to different motor controllers. The Ather 450X Gen 3.1 includes new colour options and upgraded software.
Ather 450X (3rd Generation) was launched on 19 July 2022 with improved range and other features. This new 3rd generation Ather 450x has a more powerful battery with 3.66 kWh.
The limited-edition Ather 450X Series 1 scooter was available only to those Ather Energy enthusiasts who pre-ordered the scooter before the national launch of the Ather 450X on January 28, 2020.
The Ather 450X Series 1 has translucent panels in the rear, that offer a peek inside the scooter. Ather Energy's distinct cast aluminium chassis is visible under the seat and the trellis frame. The Series 1 comes with a high-gloss metallic black body colour combined with accents of red. These colours also feature on the 7” touchscreen dashboard of the Series 1 scooters, with a special intro screen and subtle hints of red in the UI designed for the scooters.
Ather Energy started deliveries of its latest Ather 450X Series 1 from November 2020.
Ather 450X has a 4G SIM card and Wi-Fi, along with Bluetooth connectivity and the new 7” touchscreen dashboard. It comes with a color depth of 16 million and a Snapdragon Quad Core processor. Ather 450X utilizes Android Open Source to offer map navigation, on-board diagnostics and features like Over-the-air updates, auto-indicator off and guide-me-home lights.
The Ather mobile app offers charging status, push navigation, theft & tow detection, live location & vehicle state tracking, a voice assistant and welcome lights. Ather 450X supports connected accessories like smart helmets and tire-pressure monitoring systems (TPMS).[24]
See main article: Ather 450. The Ather 450 is constructed using an all-aluminium frame, comes with a 3.3 kW/5.4 kW peak (7.2 BHP) brushless DC electric motor, and a 2.4 kWh lithium-ion battery pack. The scooter can accelerate to 40 km/h in 3.9 seconds, attain a top speed of 80 km/h, and can travel 75 km on one charge in city-riding conditions (107 km in the Indian driving cycle).
Ather Energy also offers an upgraded version of Ather 450 called the Ather 450 Plus, which has a top speed of 70 kmph and a true range of 70 km in Eco mode. The Ather 450 Plus offers 4G connectivity, onboard navigation, and other connected features but does not have Bluetooth connectivity or Warp mode.
Ather Energy provides over-the-air (OTA) updates for its electric scooters. Ather Energy has rolled out 13 OTA updates as of 2020.[25]
Ather has set up its own charging network, dubbed Ather Grid, in 18 cities across India. These DC-fast-charging stations use Ather's proprietary charging method and connector to charge the Ather scooters at a rate of 1 km/min. The charging points are also equipped with a 3-pin socket to supply AC power to other electric vehicles that do not use Ather's connector. Other vehicles can connect to the charging point and start charging using the Ather Grid app for iOS and Android.[26]
More than 120 fast charging grid points are installed across 18 cities in India. Ather has plans to set up around 300 fast charging stations across India by the end of 2021. Ather also sets up a home charging point at customer's homes which will charge the Ather 450X overnight.
Ather Energy operates Experience Centres through its licensed dealer network. Ather currently has around 140 experience centers in 96 cities in India.